


Stupor Heroics

by TheSiegePerilous



Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, No real clue where this is going yet, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, relationship tags and rating subject to change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:27:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26874415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSiegePerilous/pseuds/TheSiegePerilous
Summary: In a world where metahumans and superheroics are common place, Lincoln Loud is just trying to get through each day with as little fantastical chicanery as possible. Then his one of his estranged, metahuman sisters drops by for a visit, and that becomes significantly more difficult.
Comments: 22
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**AN: Alright, you guys know the words to this song, so sing along. This story started off as something of a joke, but then Auto bullied me into developing it into a full chapter. Possibly the first in a new series. So if you don't like it, he's the one you blame :)**

* * *

"And with that, I'll see you all Friday. Class is dismissed."

The second his professor had begun to utter the sacred words, Lincoln had already slung his backpack over his shoulder begun pivoting in his seat, aiming right for the classroom door. At their conclusion, he was already barreling for the exit. Technically speaking, he was violating the class rules by making a run for it _before_ class had actually ended, but arguably the thrust of pre-law was to educate students in the manipulation and circumvention of such rules. So the way he saw it, being called upon to explain such behavior was just an opportunity to test what he'd been learning.

Lincoln felt his phone twitching in his pocket, and though he instinctively began to reach for it, he quickly pushed down that impulse, focusing on navigating the myriad obstacles, both sentient and otherwise that littered his path. Odds were pretty good it was one of the guys asking him to hang out, and while he'd love nothing more than to do so, _especially_ on a Friday, the fact of the matter as that Friday classes extended well into the afternoon. And _that_ meant that Lincoln needed to get back to his apartment, ASAP.

As he approached his favored exit, a side entrance that would deposit him right onto the street, and start him at the most direct path to his home, Lincoln stopped to catch his breath, psyching himself up. He'd done this _literally_ a million times before, plus or minus a few thousand. He could do this. The most important thing to do, was to keep moving. Thus sufficiently psyched up, Lincoln clasped the door handle in one hand, checked his backpack straps one last time, making sure his cargo was properly secured against his person, and _pushed_ , entering the exiting into the outside world.

* * *

_ROOOOAR_

Three steps from the door, Lincoln heard the noise and instinctively leapt to the side. Only moments later a heard of some kind of giant, lizard-like creatures rushed by, their collective velocity and mass sufficient enough that they would have pancaked his squishy, human frame had he been only a little slower. Were they dinosaurs? Lincoln was inclined to say "yes", they certainly looked the part, but he was also pretty sure that dinosaurs were supposed to have feathers now. Regardless, he flipped off the herd, and was only mildly surprised when a scaled appendage reached out from the middle of the group and returned the gesture. There was a gladiator fight going on just down the street (either historical, or one of those future-retro deals, he couldn't tell from this distance), and something remarkably UFO-like floating in the sky, briefly blocking out the sun as it passed overhead. It was honestly more exhausting than it was worth to be _surprised_ by the things one ran into on a daily basis these days, much easier to just roll with the punches. Literally, if need be.

As best as scientists could determine, an event had occurred some two-decades prior that had drastically altered the nature of reality. The rapidly growing field of "super science" (not to be confused with "super, science", and entirely different field of study) had provided a _slightly_ more cohesive explanation, narrowing down the event to "something quantum. Probably." Regardless, that was when the world as they had known it had forever changed. That, was when the rise of metahumans began.

Lincoln came to a stop as he reached the street corner, jogging in place so he'd be ready to to resume his route the _instant_ the crosswalk gave him the go ahead. Glancing to his left, he could see a pair of Samurai. One classic, feudal japan flavor, and one appearing to be some kind of technologically enhanced deal, both engaged in spirited debate, yet each clutching his respective sword a bit too tightly for Lincoln's taste. Undoubtedly there was a fascinating story behind this odd relationship. Still, Lincoln knew better than to get involved. Stanly's Law said that the more metas that gathered in one place, the more likely something fantastical was likely to happen, and as far as he was concerned, "fantastical" was often more trouble than it was worth. The light changed and Lincoln sprinted off. The ground below him was briefly illuminated by a bright flash of sapphire energy, but he didn't spare the time to look behind him. " _Just keep going."_ He urged himself. " _You're almost there_."

"Metahuman" was a short-hand, catch all term for any human who had been augmented to possess extraordinary abilities in some way. Some varieties were more common than others. There were folks who'd found themselves a mystical artifact, or garnered the attention and subsequent blessing of a trans-dimensional being. Others found themselves exposed to strange chemicals, or scientific procedures that induced powers in them, while others still were simply born with natural abilities, or enough intelligence or creativity to produce _something_ that would give them those abilities. The tapestry that was the world's metahuman population ran the gamut from all conceivable angles, and while there had been a time when such people were fairly rare, by the time of Lincoln's childhood, statistics suggested that roughly one in every five persons achieved metahuman status before they reached adulthood. Lincoln hated that statistic. It certainly sounded nice on paper, but was significantly harder to swallow when you _weren't_ part of that metric.

"Woooooooooo! I can flyyyyy!"

Lincoln broke his stride as a vaguely human shaped looking blur rocketed rocketed overheard, frowning at the mild disturbance. A new meta presumably. No jet exhaust, which tended to rule out artificial means. More likely than not, that meant the dope had just lucked into his new abilities. Fantastic. Lincoln shook his head, pushing down the familiar twinge of envy deep within his heart, and resumed his journey. There wasn't time to dwell on what a ridiculous, statistical outlier he really was, he had to keep moving.

Seeing his apartment building finally come into view, Lincoln doubled his efforts, pumping his legs even harder. Generally, Lincoln tried to arrange his schedule in such a way that his classes finished fairly early in the day. Friday was the very frustrating exception. His Civil Procedures class only met once a week, and for a fairly lengthy period towards the middle of the day. This meant that Lincoln was forced to be out and about well into the afternoon, and _that_ was a terrible, terrible thing. Because more often than not this was the time when—

_SLAM_

—All that fantastical meta stuff...tended to come to a head. Lincoln sighed, shaking his head forlornly as the gigantic, vehicle-sized boot that had crashed into the ground, blocking that last, tiny stretch before he'd reached the safety of home.

* * *

Well, this was frustrating. The forecast had called for Vikings, and Lincoln had been fairly optimistic that he'd been able to make it home unmolested. After all, vikings typically traveled in boats, and he didn't live anywhere near water.

The sound of drumbeats drew his attention back the way he'd come. There they were, longboats and all, somehow rowing their way up solid concrete. That was equal parts strange, but somehow expected. More importantly, it meant _should_ have avoided the worst of today's chicanery. So that left the uncomfortable question of what _this_ thing was...

"SORRY!"

Lincoln flinched as a loud, but undeniably feminine voice boomed from above. And again when a second gigantic foot crashed down to join the first. At this point, he seriously considered trying his luck with the vikings. However, much to his surprised, the giant feet immediately compressed inward, re-configuring themselves into a fairly normal sized set of dainty, female feet. Albeit, ones which each still had an inhumanly long leg still attached, stretching high into the sky. With a sound not unlike that of soda being slurped through a straw, the legs began to retract into the footwear.

"Look out below!"

Instinctively, Lincoln took a step back, which had the unintended side effect of allowing him a better vantage to view the process. It was at this point that Lincoln caught what appeared to be a human torso, rapidly plummeting towards the ground.

_WHUMF_

And then it was over. Where the pair of ginormous feet had been situated only moments earlier, now standing before Lincoln was a fairly tall, but otherwise normal-sized youg woman.

"Ta dah?" She announced, hesitantly throwing her arms to the side, like a magician announcing his latest trick was now complete.

* * *

"I'm _sooooo_ sorry." Said the girl, clasping her hands in front of her. "I didn't see you down there. Honest!"

Lincoln considered himself a good judge of character. He had to be, it was literally life and death in this city. The girl standing before him stood a few inches taller than he did, short, black hair curled upward adorning tanned, freckle-flecked face She absolutely _reeked_ of sincerity, which was somewhat surprising, but undoubtedly welcomed. More telling was her outfit; thick white gloves and boots worn over simple white spandex, the only adornment of note being a red starburst emblazoned upon her chest. While she enjoyed the slender, buxom hourglass figure that was commonplace among young female metas, she carried herself in a rather conservative manner; legs kept close to each other, arms never wandering too far from her center of mass, presumably to avoid drawing attention to just how form fitting the ensemble was. In short, the make of her outfit and the hesitancy of her stance spoke volumes. He was dealing with a rookie. And not a particularly confident one.

"I'm sorry." She yelped, her face slowly beginning to redden. It occurred to Lincoln that he'd been staring at her for the duration of his analysis without actually saying anything. Lincoln opened his mouth to reassure her that he was fine, if out of politeness if nothing else. After all, it's not like he could _do_ anything about nearly being stepped on. However, he wouldn't get the chance.

"I'm Stella." The girl continued, her voice just a bit too exuberant, her tone just a little too desperate. "Stella Zhau."

Lincoln blinked in confusion. "Uh..." he began.

"And _you_ were probably expecting me to give you my superhero name." Stella continued, growing increasingly nervous. "Which...probably would have...made...a lot more...sense..."  
To Lincoln's surprise, the spandex clad girl began to shrink, growing smaller with every word. By the time she'd finished trailing off, she was only about a foot tall, by his estimation.

"You...uh, you okay down there?" Lincoln asked, not entirely certain how to deal with this unique brand of weirdness."

"Yeah!" Stella called up, her voice considerably more high pitched than before. "Gimme a second."

Lincoln opened his mouth to reply, when the strange girl suddenly seemed to spring upward, immediately returning to her original size. He promptly closed his mouth, having lost any trail of thought he might have had.

"That was weird, right?" Stella said, tittering nervously. "Sorry about that. My powers run off my emotions. So sometimes when I get really self conscious...that happens."

"But only sometimes?" Lincoln asked, trying to grasp at any form of rhyme or reason.

"Y-yeah." She nodded. "Its about fifty-fifty. Other times—"

"Look out!"

Lincoln looked in the direction of the unfamiliar voice, only to be met with the image of half of a flaming car plummeting straight towards him. Before he could properly react to his imminent peril, Stella literally sprung into action, leaping in front of him. Lincoln made to call out to the girl, only to have the words catch in his throat as she instantly tripled in size—

WHAM

—And batted away the flaming wreckage with her super sized hands, as easily as a kitten might batter a ball of yarn.

"...THAT." She boomed, her voice now several octaves deeper. "SOMETHING MORE LIKE...THAT...HAPPENS"

"I...see." Lincoln replied, noncommittally. Once more, Stella shrank back to her normal size, save for her hands, which remained gigantic.

"Ta da?" She repeated, giving him a little jazz hands with the supersized appendages. And in spite of himself, Lincoln laughed. This girl was weird. Very weird. But...strangely adorable.

The spell was broken as a high pitched whining pierced the air. Stella spun around once more and held her still tremendous hands out, forming a protective barrier in front of Lincoln.

_FWIP FWIP FWIP_

And none too soon, as a barrage of metallic shrapnel began to pelt the fleshy barrier. Fortunately, the meta girl appeared unharmed.

"Listen..." Lincoln said, glancing around nervously. "As fun as this is, you're clearly busy. So I think I'm gonna head out. Uh, Stella."

"Sure thing." She replied, glancing nervously over her shoulder. "It was nice to meet you, uh..."

"Lincoln." He said, instinctively sticking his hand out, before immediately retracting it, realizing how stupid of an idea that would be at this time. "Lincoln Loud."

"Cool!" With that, Stella turned her head around, her neck contorting until it had managed to turn a full 360 degrees, allowing Lincoln full view of the superheroine's smiling face.

"So..." She ventured, swallowing audibly. "I guess I'll see you around?"

Lincoln couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. "Sure." He replied, nodding with an enthusiasm that surprised even him. "Definitely."

"Awesome!" Stella turned back to the fight, and resumed her blocking duties. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you get in safely!"

Not wanting to impress upon her more than he needed to, Lincoln dashed up the steps to his apartment complex and shut the door behind him, sparing one last glance out the peep hole, catching a glimpse of Stella punching a giant robot straight in the face. Metas could be intensely infuriating to deal with, but Stella, at least, was pretty cool.

...It was a shame he'd never gotten her superhero name.

* * *

Lincoln returned to his apartment and let out a loud, sigh of relief. Happy, accidental meeting with that Stella girl notwithstanding, he was glad to be home. The post-meta city of Royal Woods was a weird, and often terrifying place for normal people like himself, and it was incredibly relieving to be safe and sound once more. Now he could settle in for the night, and try to enjoy himself.

Flinging his backpack aside, Lincoln busied himself with preparations for the evening. He put a simple pot of pasta to boil, threw some greens in a salad bowl to be tossed later, then went about showering and changing out of his sweat-stained day clothes. The happy burbling of his pasta pot greeted him as he returned to the kitchen, now comfortably dressed for an evening in, and he finished his chore by tossing some store-bought sauce into the mixture, stirring well. It wasn't anywhere _near_ dad's cooking, but it was good enough for what his budget would allow. Not like he could go home, anyway. Now all that was left was to find something bingeworthy on tv, and settle in—

_BAM BAM BAM_

—For the night. Lincoln let out a long, laborious sigh. He could almost _hear_ the interruption coming. Lincoln glared at the front door. He had no idea who it could possibly be, and that worried him a bit. Maybe if he just played it cool, whoever it was would get the hint and continue upon their—

_BAM BAM BAM BAM_

Well, so much for that. Lincoln set his meal aside and trudged towards the door. He clasped the nob in his hand, and gave it a good twist, pulling the door open while silently praying it was just some asshole trying to sell him something.

" _It's not a salesperson."_ Lincoln's brain helpfully informed him as he found himself staring into a well-muscled, torso, clearly visible against the red and white fabric wrapped around it. Instinctively, Lincoln stepped backwards and began to crane his neck upward...and upward...and further upward still. Standing before him, barely able to fit in the hallway, even slightly stooped over as she was, stood a vision of beauty unlike any that one so mundane as Lincoln was likely to see in his life. The woman was easily eight feet tall with shapely, yet powerful arms and legs bare to the world, her her red and white leotard visibly struggling to contain the sheer amount of woman that was currently packed into the comparatively tiny hallway. A wild, mane of chestnut hair rolled down her voluptuous backside, splaying over her powerful shoulders and cresting upon her large, but undeniably soft, comfortable looking breasts. She was the very image of an amazon warrior, or perhaps a Valkyrie come from Valhalla, and Lincoln had little doubt that any other man, and quite a few women besides, would have already prostrated themselves before the veritable goddess that had appeared on his doorstop.

"How's it going, Stinkoln?" She said, cheerfully.

_SLAM_

Lincoln wasn't most people, however, and happily allowed the door to slam shut on his uninvited guest. Because most people weren't related to superheroine extraordinaire, _La Furiosa_. More commonly known to _him_ as his overbearing, and very much _estranged_ big sister, Lynn Loud.

* * *

There was a brief, fleeting moment in which Lincoln hoped that his act of defiance might actually _mean_ something. He hadn't seen Lynn in years. Surely that was enough time for her—

"Open the _door_ , Lincoln." A distressingly familiar voice growled from the other side of the portal.

—to remain exactly as abrasive as he remembered. That tracked entirely too well with his expectations.

"Go away, Lynn." He said, flatly.

_CRUNCH_

Lincoln resisted the urge to facepalm as Lynn simply tore the door off its hinges, and stepped into the apartment.

"Ahhh." She sighed, taking advantage of the slightly higher ceiling to stretch out to her full height. With little ceremony, the slammed the door back in its place.

"Good as new." She said, nodding proudly to herself, even as the door immediately began to slip from the frame, thankfully catching on something before it crashed to the ground entirely.

" _It's fine, Linc."_ He tried to assure himself. " _That's what deposits are for."_

"Did you seriously think you could just shut the door on me?" Lynn scoffed as she strolled past her brother, plopping her tremendous frame down on Lincoln's couch. He tried not to wince too visibly as the couch springs strained audibly.

"I'd _hoped_ I could." He confessed, glowering at the older girl. "What the the heck are you doing here, Lynn?"

"What?" She asked, innocently. "Can't a girl drop in to see her favorite brother every now and then?"

"It's been _years_ since we've seen each other. You're not the type who just 'pops in'. What do you want?"

"Impatient as always." The amazon muttered, rolling her eyes. "Can't even be happy to see..." She trailed off, sniffing the air, first with suspicion, then with undeniable interest.

"That dinner?" Lynn asked, her mood peaking visibly.

"It _was_." Lincoln admitted, seeing no point in hiding.

"Then per your gracious invitation, i would be happy to stay for dinner." Lynn announced, slapping her knee with enthusiasm. "Bring on the grub, Linc!"

* * *

"This is pretty dang good, little bro." Lynn mumbled as she slurped down the last of her pasta. Wordlessly, Lincoln spooned another serving onto her plate, and the superheroine resumed her meal.

"Thanks. It was going to be mine." He grumbled, staring forlornly at his war torn kitchen. He'd already had to whip up a few more batches. Lynn had always been a hearty eater, and the dramatic changes her body had undergone after the...incident, had only exacerbated things. Not for the first time, Lincoln shook his head, powerful feelings of frustration welling up within. One in five people sounded like pretty good odds when you were one of eleven ids. It was a statistical _nightmare_ that he'd somehow manage to dodge a meta empowering event of such magnitude that it spared him and him alone. As opposed to _any_ of his sisters. Or the friends they'd had in attendance. Or even some of the local wildlife.

 _"_ Worst camping trip _ever_." He grumbled to himself.

"You say something bro?" Lynn asked around a mouth full of noodles.

"Yeah." He said, rounding on what he'd hoped was a now _fed_ superheroine. "What are you doing here? I thought you were doing a stint with that one team up in Great Lakes City..."

"The Super Acquaintances." She interjected, settling back into her chair and patting her cheese-grater like stomach. "Yeah, that was...a thing, for a while." She blinked in surprise, and something seemed to occur to her. "Wait, how'd you know about that?"

"I keep tabs on you." He said, shrugging as he took his seat across from Lynn. "All of you, actually. It's not like it's hard, you're al pretty big deals."

"Even..." She prompted.

"Yeah, even them.' He nodded. Headlines were headlines, regardless of who they were about, media outlets were just hungry for content. Pieces about heroes tended to garner the most attention, but in a pinch, most were happy to make due with alternatives. Even stories about villains.

"Huh." Lynn mused, uncharacteristically thoughtful. "Well, yes, I did. And things were going...pretty well..."

"Putting an uncomfortable pause in your sentence is a sure sign of sincerity." Lincoln snarked.

"Shut up." Lynn grumbled, flinging a fork at him.

_BAM_

Lincoln looked at the small, fork shaped hole that now adorned his wall. Then to his sister.

"I'll pay for that." She said quickly, smiling nervously.

"Aaaaaanyway." Lynn announced in an overly exaggerated fashion, presumably to prevent Lincoln from getting a word in. "The short version is I left the group because of creative differences."

"What _kind_ of differences." He asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Nothing worth getting into." Lynn said shrugging indifferently. "A lot of things happen in the middle of a high end meta fight. A historic bridge might have been involved, something about "excessive force" and "property damage"—"

"Wait." Lincoln interjected. "How historical are we talking?"

"My legal team had advised me to against answering that." She replied blandly. "Also to deny knowing what a bridge is."

Lincoln stared at his sister for a few moments, trying to process this. Discretely, he began inching one hand towards the tv remote, it suddenly having occurred to him that big meta news was pretty much guaranteed to stay in the news cycle for some time. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough.

"Oops." Lynn said with a complete lack of sincerity as she snatched up the remote and gave it a little squeeze, crushing it into a mesh of warped plastic and electronics.

"...Must have been some bridge." Lincoln deadpanned.

"I can't confirm or deny that." Lynn said quickly. "Also, what's a bridge? Also, don't tell me, I'm not supposed to know."

"Lynn!" He barked.

"Point is, my PR team decided it would be best if I found a place to lay loooo—I mean, took some much needed time off. And so, here I am!" She held out her hands, grandly.

"Here you am... _what_?" Lincoln asked, dread creeping down his spine.

"Your new roommate, stupid." Lynn exclaimed, reaching across the table and yanking him close. "And I just know you're stoked!"

"Totally." Lincoln squeaked, despair intermingling with the spine-shattering pain he was now suffering from Lyn's show of affection.

* * *

"What the heck are you talking about?" Lynn barked, throwing a handful of cards down on the table. "That thing is toast!"

"No, it's _not_." Lincoln replied, gesturing at the cards arrayed on the tabletop. "Adaptive plating means that Omnitron is immune to whatever type of damage he was last hit with. You attacked him last turn, so he's still immune to melee damage."

"That's bullshit!" Lynn stood up, flexing her prodigious arms. "I've fought robots _exactly_ like this! I know what I'm talking about!" She snatched up one her discarded cards, which depicted a well-muscled Maori warrior on its face. "If _this_ guy's even half as strong as he looks, there's no way some stupid plate is gonna stop him from carving that stupid thing's guts out!"

"Well, be that as it may, _Lynn_ , that's how the game is played."

"it's a stupid game!" Lynn collapsed down in her seat, pouting. "Why are we even playing this? It's nothing like a real fight!"

"Because you broke the remote." Lincoln said, dryly. "So anything involving the tv is out. Which pretty much leaves this..." He gestured at the table once more. "OR...reading, basically."

Lynn stroked her chin thoughtfully. "I will graciously concede your point."

"I'm so happy."

"Alright." Lynn slapped the tabletop, mercifully remembering to pull her blow at the last second, and narrowly avoiding a repeat of what happened with the coffee table. Well, his _former_ coffee table. "Set it up again, Linc. This time I'll get him for sure."

"Actually..." Lincoln trailed off as he glanced at the clock. "I think I'm gonna call it a night, Lynn. It's pretty late."

"Oh.." There was a flash of... _something_ in the older girl's eyes. A brief moment of uncharacteristic weakness. Probably just the day catching up with her. It certainly sounded like she'd been through a lot.

"Come on." He said, standing up. "Let me show you to your room." He didn't bother to look behind him, his sister's heavy footfalls serving to signify that she was behind him. He guided Lynn down the short hallway, and opened a door at the end.

"Here you go." He said, stepping aside so she could move past him. She did so, with no small amount of difficulty.

" _Oh_..." Lynn murmured softly. "This is...your room, isn't it?"

"It is." Lincoln nodded. Not like there was any point in hiding it. The stacks of comic books and gaming paraphernalia was a pretty dead giveaway.

"A-and you only have the...one...bed." Lynn continued, swallowing loudly. She turned back towards him, fidgeting slightly. "Gotta say...I wasn't expecting this from you Sti—" She coughed softly. "Lincoln."

He shrugged indifferently. "Just part of being a good host." He gestured towards the bed. "Make yourself comfortable."

Lynn glanced to the bed, then back to him. The process repeated several times, each time her body language growing a little more erratic. It was a strange look for his normally suicidally confident sister. Finally, Lynn seemed to reach some kind of decision. Taking a deep breath, she crossed the room, and gently lowered herself onto the bed, rolling over and turning back towards him, her pose oddly provocative.

"Okay." She said at last. "I'm ready."

"...Alright." Lincoln replied, trying not to let his confusion show. He leaned back and gestured down the hallway. "Bathroom's right there, shower too. I'll be on the couch if you need anything." He waited, expecting some kind of acknowledgement, but Lynn said nothing. She merely lay there, staring at him with a strange, blank look in her eyes.

"Lynn?" He asked, snapping his fingers, trying to prompt a response. But none was forthcoming. Finally, he shrugged, stepped back out into the hallway, and closed the door, letting Lynn have her privacy.

"Metas." He muttered, rolling his eyes as he trudged back up the hallway. "Sisters too."

* * *

Lincoln's couch was cheap, thin thing, designed for tv binges and gaming marathons, _not_ for sleeping. Doubly so once his oversized sister had put unnecessary stress on it. Still, exhaustion was a powerful thing, and after the day he'd had, he possessed an _abundance_ of that. Slowly but surely, his tossing and turning began to slow, and soon Lincoln began to find himself drifting off to sleep. He'd had a long, hard day. And Lynn's presence was only going to complicate things. But he could worry about that tomorrow. Tonight, he would sleep.

Lincoln wasn't sure how long he'd managed to sleep, but he found himself stirring as his blankets were stripped away from him. Blinking his sleep blurred eyes, he was barely able to make out a large figure looming over him.

"Guh?" He mumbled, ad powerful arms plucked him from his spot, and lifted him into the air.

"Shh." Said a familiar voice. The figure pulled him close, cradling him against her body, and Lincoln immediately found himself at ease once more. Moreso than he had been before.

It wasn't long before Lincoln found himself gently being down once more. His new resting place considerably softer than his previous one. Moments later, he felt a great weight settle down beside him, those same arms pulling him into a surface that was somehow even softer still.

"Night, little bro." Lynn murmured, giving Lincoln a kiss on the cheek before laying her head down to rest next to his own.

"Night, Lynn." Lincoln mumbled, leaning fully into his big sister. It might have been the warmth, the supreme comfort, the sleep deprivation, or all of the above, but he found himself strangely accepting of these new accommodations. In a city which constantly found new ways to terrify him on a daily basis, Lincoln Loud had never found himself feeling quite so safe, nor secure, as he did in that moment, cradled against his big tonight, he decided, he would allow himself to enjoy that small peace.

Lincoln had almost managed to drift off to sleep when one, niggling thought about the feel of his new sleep partner finally pierced the fog of sleep that was enshrouding his brain.

"Lynn?" He slurred, trying to pull his face away from the tantalizing softness of Lynn's cleavage. '"Are you...naked?"

"Don't worry about it, little bro." She murmured, kissing him on the top of his head. "Just go to sleep."

"Kay." And for the first time in his life, Lincoln listened to his big sister. Almost entirely of his own volition.

* * *

**AN: The card game Lynn and Lincoln are playing is real, and one of my favorites. It's called Sentinels of the Multiverse. Seemed like a fun thing to throw in there, given the circumstances. Also, I'm cross posting my stuff to AO3 now, and I also have a twitter, which I mostly use for posting Loud House gifs I make. Just making conversation, it's 3am and I get weirdly chatty when I'm sleep derived.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Lincoln Loud was screaming. That was the first thing the boy's terror addled-mind managed to convey to him, as he struggled to reorient himself, trying to remember what was going on. He quickly patted himself down. Pajamas...right, he'd been trying to sleep. Sweat soaked pajamas, specifically. Long sleeves and pants, the better to combat cold winter nights in a poorly insulated room. That narrowed things down considerably. He must have had another nightmare.

The rationale did little to comfort the young boy as recollections of his fantastical sojourn began trickling back to him. Darkness. Claws. _Eyes_. So many eyes...

Lincoln shuddered violently, shaking his head forcefully in a desperate attempt to abort this train of thought. But the damage was already done. Here in the real world Lincoln sat alone in a dark room, and though he tried his hardest to convince himself otherwise, everywhere he looked he saw hidden terrors. Terrible things, waiting for the boy to let down his guard so they could do unspeakable things to him. No, sleep would not be forthcoming, not now. Not like this. A situation like this called for the big guns.

Screwing up his courage, Lincoln set aside his blankets, and slid to the floor as quietly as possible, then began to tiptoe to the door. Silently...carefully...just don't make a sou—

_CREEEEEEEEEEK_

Well, that was short lived. Heart in his throat and adrenaline pumping through his veins, Lincoln charged the doorway, taking the biggest strides his tiny legs could manage. Then, the second he crossed the threshold, he pivoted around and slammed the door shut behind him. He was safe, for the moment at least.

Taking big, gulping breaths, Lincoln weighed his options. Leni was usually the safest bet in these sorts of situations, the second eldest Loud sibling was always willing to share her bed with Lincoln, no questions asked. Heck, sometimes she'd ask _him_ to sleep with her, for no particular reason Lincoln could see. Unfortunately, she was spending the night at a friend's house. Lori was a less certain option, at the very least she was going to be angry about being woken up in the middle of the night. Nevertheless, Lori loved her siblings, and Lincoln had little doubt that in his current state, she'd be perfectly willing to let him bunk with her. Luna and Luan too. The _real_ problem, as he saw it, was that venturing towards any of their rooms meant traversing the pitch black hallway before him—

_CREEEEEEEEEEK_

Again, Lincoln shuddered. Stupid house. Yeah, that wasn't happening, which left him with only one option. And...if he was being perfectly honest with himself, it was always going to be his only option. He'd promised his mom and dad that he was going to stop doing this, that he could be a big boy, but...maybe just one more time. Just this one, last time. Honest.

Lincoln set forth, braving the darkness once more Thankfully, he didn't have far to go this time. In fact, his destination was already in sight, and it wasn't long before he'd found the door he was looking for. Twist the knob, sidestep through the crack and shut the door behind him, a routine his body knew by rote at this point. And only at that point, with this particular door safely between him and the darkness outside, was Lincoln finally able to find a measure of peace.

The Loud boy crept forward, artfully stepping around the array of debris that littered the room, his target now at hand. He didn't even need to check to make sure she was there, her snoring made her presence readily evident, and that in itself was of strange comfort to him.

" _Lynn_." Lincoln hissed, gripping the girl by the shoulder and giving her a good, solid shake...after which he immediately stepped back—

_FWOOSH_

—to avoid the fist that now occupied the space he was standing only moments before.

"Whazzat!?" Lynn mumbled as she sat up, fists held in front of her in a boxers stance, her head jerking around frantically as her cognitive functions slowly came online. Lincoln continued to hang back, knowing that Lynn would need a bit more time. Eventually she began to slow, her gaze sharpening as she seemed to finally be processing her surroundings.

"Lincoln?" She asked, allowing her hands to drop at last. "What's going on?"

Lincoln sidled forward, still ready to dodge out of the way if need be, but relatively certain in his continued well being. "W-well..." He began, "I had another bad dream—"

He didnt get to finish. There was a brief feeling of vertigo as the world around him went all blurry and spinney. When everything came back into focus, Lincoln found himself snug under the covers, his big sister's arms wrapped tightly around him.

"...Just like that?" He asked, as he always did.

"Just like that." Said Lynn, giving him an affectionate peck on the cheek. "Good night little bro."

_Immediately_ the room was filled with the sound of Lynn's loud, strangely aggressive snoring as she immediately passed out once more. In spite of that, it was only now that Lincoln was finally able to relax, the stress of the night being washed away by the comforting presence of his big sister.

The monsters couldn't get him now. They never could. Not while Lynn Loud was keeping him safe.

* * *

Lincoln awoke with a start, wincing as a powerful feeling of deja-vu overtook him. He glanced around his room. Board games, comic books, video game boxes stacked perilously high. That...didn't clarify much. Then he reached for his face. Bingo, two-days of facial hair. Yep, he was definitely an adult.

Dreaming about his childhood was a strange and unsettling experience. By and large, Lincoln did his best to avoid thinking about those days. It was easier that way, too much baggage. Much better to focus on the here and now. The life he'd carved out for himself here in this...room?

Lincoln frowned as he wracked his brain, trying to remember the events of last night. Much as he'd wanted to, he hadn't gone to sleep in this bed. Lynn would have thrown a fit (and probably a few other things) if he'd tried to make her sleep on the couch, so he'd decided to preemptively deal with that problem by just surrendering his sleeping space to her. Then he'd made up a spot on the couch, and then he'd...been brought back here...by Lynn. His eyes began to cross as memories of the previous night began to trickle back, intermingling with remnants of his dream. Lynn's comforting presence, her strong arms holding him close. His face comfortably buried in his sister big che—err, his big sister's...chest.

He shook his head, violently. That wasn't how it went. That _couldn't_ have been how it went. He and Lynn hadn't been those kids in a very long time. Therefore, his nighttime sojourn simply wasn't worth dwelling upon. Period.

Thus decided, Lincoln hopped out of bed and traded his sleepwear for real clothes. Yes, he may only be a few steps removed from being an actual-shut in, but he refused to _look_ the part. Which...probably meant he should shave too.

* * *

Dressed, shaven, and reasonably hygienic, Lincoln ventured forth from his sleeping space to his living space—

"Sup, bro?"

And immediately skidded to a halt, eyes wide with surprise. Lynn was bustling around the kitchen area, having clearly made herself at home in more ways than one. The super heroine had traded her costume for a sensible set of sweat clothes. At least, that's what Lincoln suspected they'd started out as. A girl of Lynn's dimensions required clothing that was specially tailored and often made from special fabrics, which was likely why she'd been forced to cut off the legs of the pants, and the sleeves and most of the midsection of the sweater. The end result was something more akin to a tank-top and shorts combo, and ended up being no more modest than her usual outfit. It further occurred to Lincoln that since his sister had arrived last night with nothing but the clothes on her back, those had more likely than not been _his_ sweats...

"Something on your mind, Linc?" Lynn called back as she leaned down and began to rummage through his cupboards, putting her shapely, prodigious rear on full display. It gentle bobbed in place. Daring him. Beckoning him...

"Lincoln?"

The white haired man jerked back to life, and managed to pull his gaze away just in time. When he looked back, now all he could see was Lynn, staring at him, an uncharacteristic look of concern in her eyes. Aaaand leaning forward on his counter, putting a truly eye-popping amount of cleavage on display...

"I'm fine!" He snapped, as he made his way over. The words came out more harsh than he'd intended, but being here with Lynn was dredging up memories from the previous night, and the very uncomfortable feelings that came with them.

"Are those my clothes?" He asked as he reached the kitchen area, and almost immediately regretted it as his body began to recall the very pleasant sensation of cuddling with an extremely naked Lynn only a few hours prior.

"Yep!" She announced, giving what little fabric remained of her top a small tug. It caused some very...interesting movement in that region. "Sorry about the wear and tear, but this is the only thing you had that'd fit me." _That_ was debatable. "But don't worry, I ordered myself some stuff. Paid for it too." She seemed strangely proud of that last part.

"Please tell me you didn't use AmazonessDotCom." He said, wincing slightly. "They always make a mess."

"Those posers? Please!" Lynn scoffed, waiving dismissively before shifting into an impressive, double-bicep pose. "Those losers have been trying to recruit me for years. Never take no for an answer, even though I've _explained_ that their stupid 'corporate culture' just can't _handle_ this sheer amount of Lynnsanity I've got here!"

"Uh huh." Lincoln muttered noncommittally as he discretely tried to avert his gaze. Lynn was putting her makeshift outfit through its paces, and he honestly wasn't sure how he'd feel in the case of a wardrobe malfunction...

"I went with Invisible Inc." She continued, mercifully abandoning her grandstanding and returning to her work. "They deliver by ninja, so we won't even know they were here until the delivery's complete."

"That's not at all unsettling." Lincoln replied, blandly, as he turned back to Lynn. It was only at this point that he finally got a good look at what she was doing. "Speaking of messes...What the heck are you doing?"

"Makin' breakfast, obviously." Lynn said, gesturing to the kitchen around her. That was certainly one interpretation. It was probably more accurate to say that Lynn was making _meat_.

Lincoln's apartment was a modest affair, designed for efficiency of space rather than comfort, and his kitchen (really more of a kitchenette) shared that design aesthetic. Which only exacerbated the fact that nearly every inch of his countertop had either been co-opted for the cooking of, or storing of meat. Lynn ran an efficient, if messy machine. To the left hand side of his stovetop sat several plates piled high with raw, uncooked meat. Low quality ground beef for the most part, it was easier on the wallet, but it also seemed that she'd managed to find the higher quality cuts he'd been saving for a special occasion. Which was to be _now,_ apparently. The stove itself was on full burn, four pans running simultaneously, each tasked with turning nasty, inedible carnage into safe, mostly edible _carne_. When a batch was done, Lynn would shuck it onto a waiting platter on the right hand side of the stovetop, fill the now empty frying pan once more, pivot around to give her hands a quick wash, and then resume the process all over again.

Seemingly content with her output for the moment, Lynn shut off the stove, then grabbed a plate piled high with still sizzling meat, and began turning towards him. Annoyed as he was that he'd have to make _another_ trip to the grocery store, Lincoln couldn't deny that the offering certainly looked appetizing, and so he held out his hands expectantly

...Which made it all the more surprising when Lynn halted her motion mid-way, dumped as much of the meat as she could fit into his blender, and set the blades to flying with a flick of the switch

_VRRRRRRRRRR_

A few moments later she shut the appliance off, poured the result into a tall glass, and slammed it down in front of him.

"Protein Shake, a la Lynn" She said, proudly. " _Bon Appetite!_ "

Lincoln eyed the concoction warily. It was thick. And brown. And it _burbled_.

"You're kidding." He deadpanned.

"I never kid about fitness, bro!" Lynn said with a confident laugh. "How do you think I got so big and strong?"

"A freak accident which, among other things, gave you a supercharged metabolism that converts nearly anything you eat into additional muscle mass." Came Lincoln's immediate reply. He had sudden recollection of an incident where Lana had dared Lynn to eat a rusty lead pipe. The athlete had immediately complied, then asked for seconds.

"I think you mean _freaking awesome_ , accident." Lynn corrected him. "But yeah...that part definitely helps." She hesitated. "You sure you don't want it?"

Lincoln looked down at the beverage once more. Burbling had given way to full on foaming, and in a way that seemed oddly infuriated. "I'm sure." He said, dryly.

"Well, no point in wasting good chow." Lynn shrugged, reached for the glass, and slammed the drink back in a single gulp, sighing contentedly afterwords. "I could go for seconds." She remarked, and set about mixing up another.

"Fantastic." Lincoln looked around his totaled kitchen. "Well, I guess since my kitchen is _occupied_ , I'm gonna have to go pick up something." He made to turn away, but stopped, looking back at his sister. "There's a coffee shop only a few doors down. You going to be okay if I step out for a few minutes?"

"Me?" Lynn laughed as she poured herself another glass of meat. "I should be the one worrying about _you_. I can't believe you willingly pour that junk into your body."

"Says the girl who just pounded back a literal meat smoothie." As if proving his point, Lynn slammed back another glass of the sludge. "It's a _shake_." She insisted.

"Whatever." Again, Lincoln started moving towards the door, but something compelled him to delay his departure just a little longer.

"You...want anything?" He called back, only _somewhat_ hesitant.

"Nah." Lynn waived him off, and gave her waist a slap. "I've still got access to my accounts, but I'm strapped for actual cash. Kinda hard to fit a wallet into a leotard, you know?"

"My...treat." Said Lincoln, trying not to think of his dwindling bank account. Even so, he could help but smile at the way Lynn's eyes lit up with happiness.

"Weeeeeeeell, if you insist..." She quickly replied, gleefully rubbing her hands together. "I'll take a Choco Coco Loco Moco."

"That the one that's a 108% chocolate?" Lincoln asked

"Yep." Lynn nodded eagerly. Then she looked down and frowned, lightly patting her washboard stomach. "Actually, better make it a small."


	3. Chapter 3

As Lincoln reached the threshold of his apartment building, he took a few moments to mentally prepare himself. " _It'll be alright._ " He reassured himself. " _It's early, the real weirdos won't be out and about yet, and the coffee shop is only a few doors down. You've got this."_ Now properly psyched up, Lincoln took a deep breath, and ventured out into the world.

It was a beautiful Spring morning, the kind that only came around a few times a year, if that. And Lincoln saw very little of it. The second his feet touched the sidewalk, he sharply pivoted to his left and started walking. _Not_ running. Running could often be more trouble that it was worth, someone who was running drew attention, and attention usually lead to... _involvement_ , so running was reserved for only the most dire of situations. Lincoln had learned to adapt a nice, brisk walk. Not so fast that he appeared to be fleeing something, but enough to convey that he wasn't taking a leisurely stroll. This also had the happy side effect of discouraging people who might try to engage him in small talk.

Fortunately, his trip was mercifully short. Merely a few scant minutes of walking, and Lincoln found himself at a cozy looking little coffee shop, creatively named "Coffee Shop". Granted, the building's facade was, in fact, a facade in truth, Coffee Shop(TM), while bereft of creativity _had_ managed to finagle its way into being one of _the_ premier coffee chains nation wide. But as part of their branding, they did everything they could to adopt the appearance of a small mom and pop store, and the attempt at deception was surprisingly effective. Lincoln, for his part, didn't care one way or the other. The coffee was relatively cheap, and this particular location was out of the way enough that he rarely had to worry about running into anyone he knew. Which was an option that the young man appreciated having. Sometimes you wanted to be around people, without actually being _with_ people.

It was around this point that Lincoln reached the door of the deceptively humble shop. He gave himself a quick pat down just to make sure he'd remember to bring his wallet (better to find out now than when he was supposed to be _paying_ for things), then reached for the doorknob—

_tingle tingle tingle_

—Only to find the door swinging open on its own, triggering the carefully placed welcome chimes on the door frame. Quickly, the pale haired young man stepped backwards and swung his gaze upward, determined to avoid doing that really embarrassing thing where two people find themselves trying to use the same door from opposite ends and have to awkwardly decide upon who gets to go first ("You first." "No, please, I insist.")

As the entryway cleared, a young woman stepped out of the shop, and Lincoln found himself looking into a familiar, tanned, freckled face.

"O-oh." Said the girl from the previous day, looking like the proverbial deer in the headlights. "H-hey...there."

* * *

"Oh, wait." The girl continued, before Lincoln could respond. "Duh. That must have sounded weird. After all, you probably have no idea who I—"

"It's Stella, right?" Lincoln interjected. He'd expected her to be happy, or at least pleased that he'd remembered her, that was generally the reaction most people had when their existence was acknowledged. So it was rather puzzling when Stella let out a low squeak of alarm and immediately backed up—

_THUMP_

—Right into the door that had closed behind her.

"Uh..." Lincoln began, but before he could continue, Stella rushed forward and slapped her hand over his mouth.

" _How_ do you know my secret identity?" She hissed, looking around fearfully. Incapable of responding, Lincoln simply stood there, waiting for her to realize the obvious problem at hand. It...took longer than was probably reasonable, but eventually Stella seemed to catch on, withdrawing her hand from his mouth with a sheepish grin.

"You told me your name, remember?" Said Lincoln, now that his mouth was free. "In fact you _only_ told me your real name. I still don't actually know what your superhero name is. Also..." Lincoln trailed off, merely gesturing at the girl herself. Stella was dressed in fairly standard civilian clothing, black pants and a white jacket worn over an equally white t-shirt. It just so happened that said outfit more or less retained the same color scheme as her costume. Her t-shirt even bore an identical red starburst to that worn by her alter ego.

"On top of that, you aren't even wearing a mask." Lincoln added.

"Heh...right." Stella tittered nervously as she fished around in her pocket. "My agency has actually been getting after me for that too. I was supposed to be wearing one yesterday, but I kinda forgot. I'm good today though, see?"

Stella pulled a thin piece of red cloth from her pocket and quickly wrapped it around her face. It _could_ be described as a mask, if one was feeling especially charitable. It was a domino mask, specifically, a style which mildly obscures the wearer's eyes...and literally nothing else. Lincoln didn't have the heart to tell her that she was _just_ as identifiable with the mask, as without it.

"Oh my gosh!" Cried a passerby, pointing one trembling finger at the duo. "The girl that was standing there just vanished! What could have possibly happened to her!"

"Don't worry!" Called out another. "I'm sure that superhero who suddenly appeared will get to the bottom of whatever sinister plot is unraveling!"

Lincoln and Stella exchanged confused, worried glances. Gingerly, Stella reached behind her head, and gently puleld the mask from her face.

"Look!" Cried the first bystander. "That girl is back! That hero must have saved the day!"

"But where did that mysterious heroine disappear to?" Asked the other. "Did anyone see her leave?"

Lincoln shook his head and sighed in exasperation. "Sometimes I hate this city."

* * *

Lincoln and Stella pushed into the shop to get away from...whatever that little bout of weirdness outside was. In spite of the fact that Stella had clearly been on her way out when he ran into her, and almost certainly had better ways to be spending her time, she stuck around and made small talk with him while he waited in line. Lincoln didn't complain, he appreciated the company. Stella, socially awkward though she was, lost a great deal of that nervous edge as they grew used to each other, and Lincoln's line in time ended up passing far more quickly, and pleasantly than he'd anticipated it would. All too soon he found himself at the counter, and it was with no small amount of reluctance that he was forced to pull his attention away from the cute, overenthusiastic girl, and focus on the purpose of this little excursion.

After quickly surveying of the contents of his wallet and performing a little mental math, Lincoln was ready to order. Lynn's chocolate drink that was merely masquerading as coffee, as well a basic (and more importantly _cheap_ ) coffee for himself. After a slight bit of hesitation, he bit the bullet and ordered and ordered an assortment of pastries as well. Then came time to pay, but as he reached for his money, it occurred to him that, nearly accidental squishing aside, Stella _had_ saved his life yesterday.

"Can I get you anything?" Lincoln asked her. "It's the least I can do."

"Oh nonono!" Stella replied, frantically waving her arms. "It's fine! Really!" Inwardly, Lincoln breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing as how she'd already been at the shop when he'd arrived, it was a pretty safe bet that she'd already had something to drink. Still, he'd made the effort, and from the smile on her face, Stella clearly appreciated the gesture. Now they were square in theory. And yet...

"Well, can I at least offer you a pastry?" Lincoln added as he paid for his purchase. He presented the box of ostensible breakfast foods to the girl, and watched her already tenuous composure break as a variety of emotions flashed across her face. Finally, she regained her composure and looked him in the eye.

"That...would be great. Yes."She said, smiling _just_ a bit too hard. Lincoln as willing to let this pass, however. Now his social obligation was being met, and all it was going to cost him was a sugar coated treat. His dentist would be pleased. Lincoln waited for Stella to to select her pastry...but several moments later, the dark haired girl was still just standing there...smiling at him.

"Next customer, _please_." Said the woman at the counter, startling Lincoln. Then he noticed the rather long line of people who were (more or less) patiently waiting for him to move the hell out of the way.

"Sorry." Lincoln muttered, as he made way for the next customer, then worked his way through the crowd and out the door, letting out a little sigh of relief as he exited the cramped store, and reemerged back into the outside world.

"So..." Said Stella, sidling up along side him. "Where to now?"

Oh. Lincoln glanced back at the girl, surprised to see nothing but earnest enthusiasm in her eyes. Alright then, apparently _this_ is what they were doing.

* * *

"My place isn't too far from here." Said Lincoln, glancing at his companion. He hadn't been expecting to be bringing the girl home with him, but she'd sort of invited her along, and it would have been _beyond_ awkward at that point to clarify that he'd been expecting her to take her treat and _leave_. Still, what harm could it do. Short though the trip was, she'd proven herself more than capable of defending him if need be, and that knowledge provided a degree of comfort that Lincoln was unused to, but very appreciative of.

"Kinda surprised you're so willing to just...come home with me...seeing as how we just met and all." Lincoln continued, and he _immediately_ regretted doing so. Bit of a coin flip on which of them he'd just accidentally insulted. But to his surprise, Stella declined to respond.

"Still, not like you have anything to worry about, I guess." Lincoln added, hoping to amend any potential damage he'd caused. "Seeing as you're a meta and all."

"Oh yeah." Stella nodded in agreement. "I'm a lot tougher than I looked. I could take you out in a second. Like, pow!" She punctuated her statement by throwing a sharp jab, her fist briefly ballooning to several times its usual size before abruptly reverting to normal.

"Nnnnnot that I'm saying I would." Stella quickly added, shaking her head emphatically. "I'd only do that if you were some kind of weirdo. Which you're clearly not. Clearly."

"Clearly." Lincoln repeated, smiling wryly at the girl as they reached his apartment building. "I just lure unsuspecting girls to my home with pastries." This...actually gave her pause.

"Um..." Stella began.

"I'm kidding, of course." Said Lincoln.

"Of course!" Stella shouted, just a bit too loudly. Even so, she looked relieved.

"Do you need a minute?" Asked Lincoln.

"No." She wearily waved him off. "Maybe if I have a pastry in my mouth, I can stop putting my mouth in it."

* * *

Lincoln opened the door to his apartment, and immediately slipped inside. It would have been proper for him hold the door open for his guest and allow her to go inside first, but Lincoln was putting long term concerns over simple politeness. _If_ shenanigans had ensued in the short period of time he'd been gone, he'd hoped entering first would allow him to do damage control, if not save Stella from whatever weirdness was to befall them entirely. So it was with much relief that Lincoln found the apartment intact, Lynn lounging on the couch and watching TV. Maybe if he was lucky, Stella might not notice the still omni-present stench of—

"Why does it smell like meat in here?" Stella asked, from behind him.

...Well, so much for that.

"Hey, Lincoln." Lynn greeted him from the couch. "...And girl with Lincoln." She added as the duo entered the apartment and closed the door behind them. The second part of that sentence was considerably more frosty than the first.

"Oh." Lincoln blinked in surprise as he glanced back at his second guest. It wasn't at all out of character for Lynn for be unsociable, but that felt like a _really_ abrupt shift. "This is Stella" He said, jerking his thumb back at the girl in question, who proceeded to wave one hand nervously.

"We're friends." He continued

"We're not really..." Stella began mumbling at the same time, only to trail off as Lincoln completed his explanation. The pair exchanged brief, confused glances.

"Okay, I guess we're acquaintances..." Lincoln began correcting himself—

"We're friends!?" Only to be interrupted by Stella's delighted squeal. Again, the pair exchanged glances, though this time a thoroughly confused Lincoln was able to notice just how precarious the smile plastered on the girl's face suddenly seemed to be.

He turned back to Lynn. "We're _friends_." He said, with finality. The next thing he knew, he was suddenly gasping for breath, as a vice-like pressure began crushing his body.

"We're friends!" Stella shouted, only inches from his ear. It probably would have been _really_ painful if she wasn't also hugging him to death. Fortunately she seemed to notice, and quickly released him.

"Sorry." Stella murmured, laughing sheepishly. "That was too much, right? Do friends hug?"

Lincoln would have responded, but his body was more concerned with replenishing its precious supply of oxygen. Before he got the chance, a large shadow fell over him and Stella. Turning around, Lincoln saw that Lynn had crossed the room and was now looming over the pair, having drawn herself up to her full, rather impressive height. She didn't look happy.

"Lynn—" Lincoln wheezed, still not capable of conversation. Fortunately, it didn't turn out to be necessary.

"Oh...my...God!" Stella squeaked, as she gazed up at the much taller girl. "You're _La Furiosa_! Right? I mean, you'd have to be, but still! That's you, right?!"

Lynn's stoic demeanor broke as her face wrinkled in confusion. She looked to Lincoln, but he could only shrug, being likewise befuddled by the reaction.

"Yeeeees?" Lynn ventured, somewhat uncertain. "That's me alright."

"Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh!" Stella squealed as she began bouncing in place. A second later realized that there was no idiom at play, Stella's entire body was beginning to undulate in place, tempo rapidly increasing as the seconds wore on.

"Stella?" Lincoln asked, not sure if he should get closer to comfort the girl, or back away in case she exploded or something. Metas were notoriously unpredictable.

"I just can't believe I got to meet _you_ of all people! _Here!_ " Stella continued to babble. Lincoln finally making up his mind, Lincoln made to approach the girl, but was interrupted as Lynn grabbed him by the shoulder and gently, but firmly pulled him back, putting herself between him and the girl whose excitement was clearly about to his some kind of critical peak.

"This is greatest day of my life!" Continued to ramble, clasping her hands in front of her chest as she looked up at Lynn. "I am _such a—"_

_FOOM_

Lincoln wasn't able to see precisely what had occurred, situated as he was behind Lynn now, but the next thing he knew there was a deafening rush of wind. An instant later, he found his body flanked on either side by a pair of long, shapely, but also _impossibly_ large legs. Peering out from behind his big sister, he could see that a good chunk of his apartment was currently occupied by Stella, who'd now be standing somewhere around fifteen-feet tall by his estimation. At least, she would be if she wasn't crammed into what little space his comparatively tiny apartment could offer. Littered around her now much larger frame were the tattered remnants of her civilian clothing. Fortunately, it seemed she'd been wearing her superhero costume underneath, which seemed to have no trouble expanding to accommodate her new size.

"...Were you going to say "big fan?" Lynn asked, dryly, as she surveyed the apartment's newest state of disrepair.

"S-SOMETHING LIKE THAT." Said Stella, her face bright red with embarrassment.

* * *

"You gonna be okay now, kid?" Lynn asked warily. In spite of Stella's little accident, neither the apartment, nor any of Lincoln's possessions had suffered any permanent damage. Once Stella had calmed down enough to return to normal, the three of them working together had managed to get the apartment back in something resembling order in a fairly short amount of time. Now, the trio were seated around Lincoln's table, looking for all the world like a fairly normal group of friends having breakfast. Excepting, of course, the state of dress that the two girls were in.

"I'm fine." Stella mumbled, shoving a pastry in her mouth, then sighing in contentment as the flaky, sugary goodness worked its magic on her.

"S-sorry about that." She continued, trying to maintain her composure. "I'm a polymorph, you see. I have the power to alter the physical properties of my body." To demonstrate, Stella elongated her arms, then waved her now noodly appendages around a bit before returning to her usual proportions. "But my powers can go a little wacky when my emotions go out of wack a-and..." she swallowed loudly, "I just wasn't expecting you meet _you!_ Here! I'm such a fan, I just kinda lost it."

"No worries." Lynn replied, smiling as she sat up a little straighter. "Not like I haven't met enthusiastic fans before." In spite of her words, Lynn was very obviously preening. Unsurprising, the athlete turned superhero had always enjoyed the spotlight.

Lynn leaned over and gently nudged Lincoln in the ribs. At least, he _assumed_ she was being gentle, because he could still feel his ribs afterwords. They felt like _pain_.

"I just wasn't expecting my little bro to bring home another meta." She continued, giving Lincoln a sideways glance.

"You're _La Furiosa_ 's brother!" Stella exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement.

"Call me Lynn." The older girl interjected with a smile.

"You're _Lynn's_ brother!" Stella shouted. Then she frowned. "That doesn't sound anywhere near as exciting."

"Tell me about it." Lincoln grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"A-and if you're related to _her_ , then..." Somehow Stella's eyes grew even wider. "That means you're related to Luminary! Right? And Umbra! And—"

"Yes!" Lincoln interrupted, not wanting another repeat of her little accident. "Yes. Whoever else you were going to say, yes. I'm probably related to them."

"Holy cow." The tanned girl sunk down in her chair, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "Just how many sisters do you guys have?"

"Ten, including me." Lynn supplied. "All metas."

"Wow!"Stella let out a low whistle before turning to Lincoln. "And you're..."

"The only normal one of the bunch." He confirmed. "Yeah. Lucky me."

"Wow." Stella repeated, her brow wrinkling in concentration. "How does that even happen?"

"Ooooh!" Lynn clapped her hands in a manner that was strangely at odds with her size. "I never get to tell this story." The brunette cleared her throat loudly. "It was a dark and stormy—"

"We went on a camping trip when we were kids." Lincoln interjected, his tone flat. "A comet crashed into our camp site and the resulting cosmic radiation gave everyone at the site super powers."

"It doesn't sound anywhere near as cool when you just blurt it out like that." Lynn grumbled, pouting at the younger boy before finally taking a pull from her cup of coffee, which immediately elicited a series of uncharacteristically adorable giggles and squeals from the older girl.

"And _you_ were..." Stella prompted.

Lincoln sighed. "In the woods. Dinner hadn't quite agreed with me, and I needed some...alone time." Stella winced. Twice.

"Ouch."

Lincoln took a deep breath. "It's fine." He said, not keen on dumping too much of his baggage on his guest. "Some people have remarkable origin stories. I guess I just have a remarkable...un...origin story." He gestured to Stella. "I bet yours was just as unlikely.

"Oh yeah." Stella said, nodding emphatically. "It happened when I was six..."

* * *

"Hey, Stella!" Shouted a rather rotund six-year-old boy. "I dare you to lick this toxic waste!"

* * *

"And that's how I got my powers." Stella concluded. "All the other kids just got a trip to the hospital." The Loud siblings exchanged uncertain glances.

"Uh...wow." Lynn said. "That's certainly...something."

"Just out of curiosity, how many of you were involved in this...episode?" Lincoln asked.

Stella chewed her lip thoughtfully "About five of us, I think."

"Of course." Lincoln muttered. Stupid statistic.

"But still!" Stella pressed. "It must have been really cool growing up with a house full of super siblings, right?"

* * *

Lincoln Loud opened the door to his room as quietly as possible. The coast _appeared_ to be clear, but he'd learned from experience that appearances could be deceiving. Especially after the...accident.

The boy winced as his stomach began to grumble, loudly and irritable. Even so...he couldn't wait any longer. Just down to the kitchen and back to his room. Nice and simple. Hopefully.

Lincoln crept out from his room and began making his way towards the stairs. Quickly, quietly, no need to draw attention to himself. It wasn't that he was trying to _avoid_ his sisters, _per se,_ but everyone had been a bit on edge lately. And the last thing he wanted to do was be around when the powder keg went off—

_BWAAAAAAAAAAA_

Just...like... _that_ , Lincoln managed to think as he suddenly found himself soaring through the air, having been knocked off his feet by the sonic blast that had erupted just a little ways up the hallway. Unfortunately, the Loud boy had just so happened to have been at the top of the stairs at the time, and the blast had sent him tumbling towards the bottom floor. Thinking quickly, Lincoln reached out and clasped the banister as hard as he could with both hands. Lincoln winced at the friction that now burned his palms. He couldn't get a good enough grip to _stop_ his fall, but he was able to slow it to a much more acceptable speed. As soon as the end was in sight, Lincoln released the banister, palms stinging too badly to maintain his grip, but by that point he was _much_ closer to the ground. Tucking his legs in, Lincoln took the fall on his shoulder, just like Lynn had showed him, and managed to roll through the worst of it. Finally safe on the ground, and very nearly sound, Lincoln rose from the floor on unsteady legs, and allowed himself a quick sigh of relief—"

"Dangit Lana! Get back here you little—! _"_

And immediately threw himself to the ground once more as a couch soared through the air, crashing heavily against the wall where he'd just been standing. Great, it had already started. Alright, this could still be salvaged. Maybe he could just _crawl_ the remaining distance to the kitchen...

"I told you neanderthals to _stay away from my experiments!"_

Lincoln groaned as the ground began to rumble, followed by a distressingly familiar, high pitched whine. Mom had _told_ Lisa she wasn't allowed to make any more death rays..."

The world around Lincoln began to blur as a powerful force enveloped his body, very nearly crushing the boy. Just as he was about to cry out, it was over. Lincoln found himself standing in his room once more. Sore, dizzy, and a little queasy, but intact.

Lincoln winced as his body finally registered the intense pressure that was still clamped around his arm. A quick glance over confirmed just who it was who'd whisked him away to safety.

"Lincoln!" Lori shouted, fuming as she glared down at him. "Why did you leave?! I _literally_ told you to stay in your room!"

"Lori!" Lincoln gasped, frantically gesturing with his free hand. The older girl's frown only deepened, but she looked where he was indicating...and immediately released him, letting out a small gasp of alarm.

"Oh, shoot." Lori murmured, her gaze softening considerably. "Lincoln, I didn't mean—"

"It's fine, Lori." He replied through gritted teeth gingerly massaging the now throbbing appendage, an ugly purple bruise already beginning to spread across it. Sometimes Lori just didn't know her own strength.

"I'm..." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Linc. Really." And he believed her. She always meant it. "But you _know_ it's not safe out there right now. Everything's pretty—"

Both siblings flinched as the house began to shudder around them.

"...crazy, right now." Lori concluded, somewhat unnecessarily. "I'm trying to get it under control. I promise."

"I know, I know." Lincoln assured her. "But it's been _hours_ Lori! How much longer is this going to take?"

Lori began to reach for him, and purely by instinct, Lincoln flinched away. It was a small thing, entirely reactionary, but he saw the pained look in his sister's eyes, and instantly regretted it.

"Right now, little brother." Lori said softly. She turned away from him and stepped back out into the hallway once more. "Close the door, Lincoln." Lori ordered. The teenage girl floated up off the ground as an aura of pure white energy flashed into existence around her, concentrating most heavily around her eyes, and her clenched fists. "I'm going to put a stop to this, _right_ now!"

* * *

"Yeah." Lincoln said softly, nodding his head at Stella. "Never a dull moment in our house."

There was a moment of silence as Lincoln sat there rigidly, trying to shake off the fugue that tended to set in with such recollections. It wasn't a period of time he reflected upon very fondly.

"I've got you, bro." Lynn murmured, wrapping her long arm around Lincoln and yanking him over to her, chair and all.

Lincoln wanted to rebut Lynn, to tell her to leave him alone. But in spite of the fact that he was now being crushed against the larger girl's body, he found himself strangely breathing more easily. There was something about Lynn's immediate presence that set him at ease.

"S-sorry." Lincoln said, looking at Stella, trying to act like he wasn't being treated like a stuffed animal. "Got a little distracted. Thinking about...stuff." Stella, for her part, just seemed amused by the situation.

"Okay then." Lynn announced, giving Lincoln a squeeze. "How about we get off this subject and do something?"

"Like what?" Lincoln asked, looking at Lynn warily.

"Anything you want." Said Lynn, sounding unusually reasonable "It's your house, so you decide." She leaned down and gave Lincoln an exaggerated wink. "I bet you can think of _plenty_ of things to do with two cute girls, right?"

Lincoln sighed deeply. _That_ was the Lynn he knew. And yet...

"Anything?" He looked Lynn straight in the eye. He took no small amount of pleasure in seeing the larger girl squirm at the attention, her face shifting from delight, to confusion, to worried, and then repeating the cycle.

"Yeeeees?" Lynn said at last, not sounding entirely convinced. She looked to Stella. "What to you say, kid, you wanna humor my little bro?"

"Sure!" The other girl chipped, her voice quavering only slightly. "Yeah. I trust Lincoln."

"Alright then." Lincoln replied, chuckling darkly.

* * *

"Lincoln..." Stella murmured, her body visibly trembling. "I'm not sure I can do this..."

"It's fine, Stella." Said Lincoln, putting one reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "We're going to take this nice and slowly, okay?"

"A-alright." The raven haired girl closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. "I think I'm ready."

"Colossal Left Hook." She said, placing a card on the table. "That's 3 damage, and then I can discard one card to play another card." She held up two identical cards. "Since I have three of these, I can do that three times. Then, Tectonic Chokeslam..."

"Finished him off." Lincoln concluded, clapping the girl on the back. "Nice job, Stella, we won!"

"Wait...what!?" Lynn exclaimed, dropping her cards in shock. "We actually _won_ this stupid game?"

"That's right Lynn." Lincoln said, nodding at the older girl.

"Finally!" Lynn crowed leaping up from her chair. Lincoln winced as she barely avoided slamming her head into the ceiling. He had no illusions about who'd lose that contest, and he wasn't keen on paying the repair cost.

"Although..." He continued, fighting down the urge to smirk. "You did end the game at negative three health."

"What!?" Lynn sputtered. "How!?"

Lincoln shrugged. "Giant fists don't discriminate."

"Sorry!" Stella squeaked slinking low in her seat. Fortunately for her, Lynn's attention was focused solely on Lincoln.

"Set it back up." She growled. "We're playing again!"

"I seem to recall you saying 'one game, and that's it'." Lincoln drawled, not bothering to hide his smile this time. "We won and _you_ were an active participant. You shoul dbe happy."

"I'm not!" Lynn shouted, clenching her fist. "We're playing again! And this time I'm gonna kill Stella!"

"Please don't." Stella pleaded.

"It's a cooperative game, Lynn." Lincoln chided.

"Then I'm going to win better!" Lynn announced. "Set it back up! We're going again!"

And for one brief, crystallizing moment, Lincoln Loud didn't see the irate girl before him as _La Furiosa_ , world famous super heroine extraordinaire. He simply saw, Lynn Loud, his over competitive, fiercely protective big sister.

"Whatever you say, Lynn." He replied,grinning in spite of himself as he set up the table once more. "Let's play again."


	4. Chapter 4

Lynn Loud stared intently at the white-haired young man clutched tightly in her arms, struggling against the myriad feelings that warred within her. Ranking among the world's most premier superheroes meant never having to second-guess herself, and that was how Lynn liked it. Her conduct was often criticized for being reckless, but it was undeniable that she got results. Her attempts to work with other heroes were purely PR and marketing stunts, often done at the behest of her agency, and would inevitably come to an end when her would-be teammates got fed up with not being able to get on her level. But in spite of that, when the latest intergalactic conqueror or trans-dimensional deity decided to try its hand at taking Earth, Lynn would inevitably be on the short-list of first responders, simply because she was just too valuable to leave on the bench. In a world of extraordinary individuals, Lynn Loud was the _creme de la creme_ , and _that_ meant never being anything less than supremely confident in everything that she did.

So it was intensely frustrating that the mere _thought_ of having this conversation left her paralyzed with... _feelings_. Arms that could tear steel apart like so much newspaper, quivering like jelly, because there was a _possibility_ that once the die was cast, her formerly estranged little brother...might think less of her. Which didn't _sound_ especially dreadful, after their parting all those years ago it would be truly remarkable if there still remained further depths to which Lincoln's opinion of her could sink. And yet, that the possibility remained was sufficient to render her powerful body weak with worry. She hadn't truly expected this...venture, of hers to bear any fruit, not really. But in spite of that, something was being built here, she could feel it, and having seen this all too brief glimpse into what _could_ be, the thought of losing even that much terrified her.

In spite of her reputation as a loose canon, Lynn Loud conducted herself with the strictest discipline in one specific area. She didn't allow herself to get close to other people. This was largely out of pragmatism, Lynn rubbed other people the wrong way, and the feeling was often mutual. First hand experience had demonstrated rather succinctly that at this point in her life, she'd already met all the people that were going to be able to accept her for who she was. Keeping relationships purely at the professional level just saved time, for the most part. It staved off the inevitable. The disappointment. The hurt. It was a good system, one that had proven its worth time and time again. But, her superhuman abilities aside, Lynn was still human. She still...yearned...ugh, that sounded terrible. She was occasionally still prone to the all too human need for closeness, that desire to connect with another person, however briefly. And so there were occasions where she bent that rule, times when she would allow another person past her perimeter, and lower her guard ever so slightly for as long as was absolutely necessary for her to find her footing once more. There was, however, a second rule, and this was one that she never allowed herself to break. Lynn Loud went to bed alone, forever and always. It was largely a matter of boundaries, the weakness would pass, it always did, but no matter how forthright she was about her intentions, no matter how _agreeable_ the other party appeared to be at first, they could never disguise that _hope_. That foolish, _romantic_ notion that they might be the one to save her from herself. That they were wrong, always, clearly and demonstratively so, never dissuaded them. Hence the Rule. It kept things honest. Clean. Most importantly, it allowed Lynn her one precious dream. Her hope. That there might come a day where _he_ would come back to her, ask that he might be allowed to join her. And that was why she needed the Rule. She needed to save _his_ spot for him.

...That there would come a day when her delusion became so strong that it would drive _her_ to become the initiator, stumbling after something that may never have existed to begin with would have been unfathomable when she was at her best. And yet, here she was. Here _they_ were. Together, in the dark, amidst the sounds of her rapidly beating heart, and Lincoln's slow, rhythmic breathing. It was such a small thing, this change, and now after only a few nights of this, she wasn't certain she was strong enough to go back. She simply couldn't.

Lynn allowed herself a few moments more to ruminate on her plight, before violently shaking her head. Alright, this wasn't getting her anywhere. She had two options here: chicken out and resign herself to another night of quietly creeping on her little brother as he slept while struggling against her increasingly frustrated libedo...or _not_ be a whiny little bitch, and wake the doofus up so she could finally get on with this. And...considering Lincoln had classes in the morning, she was only making things worse for herself by waiting,so...gah! Come on, Loud! He's nearly half your size and a fraction of your mass! Woman the hell up already!

"L-Lincoln!" Lynn immediately winced at the sound of her own voice. What was with the falsetto? Try again! She took a breath. Then another, finally attaining a semblance of calm. Then, with a degree of care she normally reserved for handling cats and small children, she took Lincoln by the shoulder and shook him as _gently_ as possible. "Lincoln." She said again, softly, this time trying to keep her voice level. There were a harrowing couple of moments where it seemed like nothing was happening. Then, finally, he began to stir.

"Uuuuh." Lincoln groaned, as he began to rouse from his slumber. Funny, she remembered her little brother being a much lighter sleeper. He tried to rise, but couldn't quite seem to manage it. Then Lynn realized the problem. She was still holding onto him. _Almost_ without conscious thought, Lynn tightened her grip on the younger Loud, pulling him closer to her.

"Lynn?" Lincoln asked, blinking eyes still bleary with sleep. He glanced around as best he could from his current position. "I feel asleep on the couch. Again." He glanced back at her. "Didn't I?"

"You may have." Lynn conceded, offering no further explanation. _Take the hint, you dope!_

Lincoln began to wriggle in her grasp. Once she realized that he was trying to reorient himself, rather than escape, the grudgingly loosened her grip on the young man, enough that he was able to roll over and face her. This had the unwanted side effect of moving him further away from her, and Lynn briefly had to struggle with the urge to grab him again. It was fine, she reasoned, he's still here. He's not going to leave. And if he does...well...you were always faster than him, even as kids...

"You have clothes this time." He observed. "Sort of."

Sort of was right. Lynn's order for necessities included, among other things, some very basic sleepwear. In this case, a black muscle tee and matching shorts, both pulled so tightly against her voluptuous frame that they might as well have been underwear. Which worked out, because she wasn't wearing any of that either. Lynn preferred to sleep _au natural_ , but in the interest of trying to refrain from blowing Lincoln's mind _too hard_ with her awesomeness, she'd opted for this half-measure.

"Aw. You disappointed little bro?" She asked, flicking her ponytail with a slight shake of her head and fluttering her eyelashes at him. We could fix that, if it's really bothering you. She'd been trying to diffuse the situation with humor, but it still irked her when he scoffed and turned away. Dang it, that move warranted more of a response! A _supposedly_ state of the art plasma rifle had once caused her to suffer a rather severe costume malfunction while on stage at a convention, and everyone sitting in the front rows had to be hospitalized from severe blood loss. She'd been mortified initially, but had since decided to take it for the compliment it was. And here she was now, unable to get the slightest rise out of her...little...brother. Wow. That sounded _way_ worse when you laid it out like that. Even so, she was relieved that Lincoln didn't seem to be making any move to leave the room. Though he _did_ , for some reason, take whatever blankets were within reach and wrap them tightly around himself, making a thick cocoon. Ah well, it's not like she actually got cold.

Cautiously, as if trying to avoid scaring away a small animal, Lynn reached for the burrito that had once been her brother, and began to drag it away from the edge of the bed, back towards herself. At first she moved him by inches, fully prepared, albeit reluctant, to surrender her claim if Lincoln showed any sort of resistance. To her relief, he didn't, and emboldened by his lack of protest, Lynn pulled him close, once again assuming the role of big spoon to her burrito-brother's little spoon. It was strange, they'd only been apart for a short while, and she'd already missed the closeness. To the extent that it took everything she had to resist the urge to tear apart the bundle of blankets so she could satiate herself upon the sweet, delicious, Lincoln center.

... _Bad Lynn_ , she scolded herself. _Get out of your head before you do something you'll regret._

"L-linc?" She prompted, fighting down the urge to nuzzle. This wasn't the time, she had an objective to meet.

"...Yeah, Lynn?" He said at last, causing Lynn to let out a quiet sigh of relief. She'd been beginning to worry that she'd tarried too long, that Lincoln's lack of responsiveness was due to him falling back to sleep. She needed him awake for this, time to focus.

"I-I'd noticed that you seemed a little down." She said. "You know, when Stella was asking about...uh, us. And all that stuff that happened. When we were kids." She waited for some kind of reply, but none seemed forthcoming. Lynn took that as her cue to continue.

"I just wanted you to know that..I'm here. I-if you wanted to talk...or anything." She went on, having to strain to keep her voice steady. This wasn't the sort of thing she was used to doing, but Lincoln needed to know that she was there for him if he needed it. Oh, that's good, use that!

"I just..." Lynn cleared her suddenly dry throat. "I just wanted you to know that I'm...here, you know if you ever need me for anything. I...care, about you, little bro. And I don't want there to be any bad blood between us. If you're still...h-holding onto something from back then, feel free to let it out. I'm here for you. I _want_ , to be _here_...for you...is what I'm trying to say, I guess." Lynn's voice got softer and softer as she continued to ramble, the last words coming out as little more than a whisper. But finally, she was done. She'd said something that...vaguely resembled the point she was trying to make, and now the ball was in Lincoln's court. Now they could be honest. Now—

"Eight years."

—they could...wait, what?"

"Eight years, Lynn." Lincoln said softly. "Eight years without hearing from you. _Any_ of you. Kind of late to have the big feels talk now, isn't it?"

That...was not the response she was expecting. Lynn had run through countless scenarios in her head. She'd expected yelling. She'd expected disappointment. She'd expected any number of things. But she hadn't expected Lincoln to sound so...tired. In a manner that transcended simple exhaustion brought on by being woken up by your pushy sister in the middle of the night. Those words were old. Worn.

Lincoln stirred in her grasp, and without conscious though, Lynn loosened her hold on him. Now free to move, Lincoln removed himself, first from her grasp, then from his comical blanket shelter. He flipped around, once more looking her straight in the eye, and for a moment Lynn felt panic's cold, clammy hands clasped around her rapidly beating heart. Then Lynn looked at her brother, really _looked_ at him, and she was surprised to find that there was no fury in those eyes. There was no deep seated despair, or longing. The Lincoln Loud before her was simply a very sleep deprived looking young man.

He sighed."Look, Lynn..." Lincoln reached out and out his hand upon her shoulder. He opened his mouth as if to say more, but stopped himself, looking at the hand now resting upon her person, and shook his head. "Sorry." He said, pulling it back. "Didn't mean to do that. It just kind of happened." Lynn hadn't minded. She enjoyed the contact. She wanted it back. She missed the warmth.

"That came out harsher than I intended." Said Lincoln, frustratingly oblivious to the maelstrom of emotion he had stirred up within Lynn with a simple touch. "But come on, eight years. You've gotta admit, it sounds kind of silly, right?" His lip quirked up in a small, tired smile, and for a moment Lynn felt herself transported back in time. Back to those days when they were inseparable. When Lincoln would climb into her bed to escape from the things that haunted him in the night, fully confident that his big sister would protect him. And Lynn, for her part, was fully willing to do so. She missed those times. She missed that smile. She'd missed her Lincoln.

"It was a little weird, Stella bringing up all that stuff." He continued. "But only because to be honest...I haven't really thought about it. Not for a long time."

 _That_...she hadn't been expecting. "Seriously?" Lynn asked.

"Seriously." Lincoln nodded, sounding sincere. "I mean yeah, when I was a kid I was so..." He trailed off as his cheeks began to pinken ever so slightly. "Well, alright, I was insanely jealous of you guys. I'd dreamed about being a superhero for my whole life, and not only did I miss out on the chance to have super powers, but you guys got them. _All_ of you guys. It was pretty disheartening" This was a bit more along the lines of what Lynn had been expecting, though she hadn't expected Lincoln to be so calm about it.

"And the fact that our lives got that much crazier afterwords just made it worse." He continued. "You guys were amazing. You _still_ are, even the..." He cleared his throat. "Even the _other_ ones, in their own way." Lynn didn't _quite_ agree with that interpretation, but unwilling to interrupt the moment they were having.

"And we still had good times, we had a lot of those." He went on. "But more and more I just kind of felt like an outsider. Like I wasn't one of you anymore." He frowned slightly. "And it didn't help that you guys started—" Lincoln abruptly cut himself off, frowning in concentration. Finally, he just shook his head, letting out a soft grunt of annoyance. "Look, the point is, that stuff happened a long time ago. I was a dumb kid, we were all dumb kids. And the thing about being a dumb kid, is that at some point...you have to stop, right? That's kind of the point. Eventually, you stop being a dumb kid and have to start being a somewhat less dumb adult."

"I...guess that makes sense." Lynn replied, nodding slowly, not entirely sure of her words. Lincoln began to reach out again, seemingly on instinct, but caught himself before making contact. Not one to let an opportunity go by, Lynn quickly snatched his hand and pressed it against her shoulder again, holding it firmly there. Lincoln blinked a few times, surprised, but to her relief, her let out a small laugh, and pressed his hand against her well toned limb. It was a nice laugh. One which made Lynn acutely aware of the fact that his hand was so very close to her prodigious bust. It would be to easy to simply...guide him there...make it look like an accident...

"Look, Lynn." Said Lincoln, still shaking with the fading vestiges of laughter, his eyes still shining with mirth. "You kind of dropped into my life unexpectedly, but I'm glad your here. Genuinely, truly glad" His smile receded for the briefest of moments. If Lynn hadn't been staring so intently as his lips, she might have missed it, but it was there. "I missed you. And even though it _took_ you long enough...I'm glad you're finally here."

Lynn was touched by the sentiment. So much that she was able to briefly put aside the storm of lust raging within her, and just for a moment, look upon the young man before her as the little brother she'd left behind all those years ago. "I'm happy to be here, Linc." She replied, her voice thick with emotion. "I'm sorry it took so long."

Lincoln took a deep breath, then exhaled. And as he did so, he looked much...lighter, then he had been. "Good." He said. He withdrew his arm, and rolled over, facing away with from her once more. Lynn's mood deflated considerably, but to her surprise, Lincoln proceeded to scooch backwards towards her. Within a matter of moments, he was now lying a respectful distance away. Not close enough that he was touching her, but enough to make it clear that they were sleeping _together_. Just like the old days. Well... _almost_ like the old days. But she could fix that.

Grinning Lynn yanked Lincoln close, pulling him right up against her. And then , purely driven by raw, wicked impulse, she leaned down and planted a small kiss on his cheek. Chaste, for the most part, but she allowed herself to linger _just_ a big longer than was absolutely necessary. Her reward, upon pulling away, was seeing Lincoln's face, now burning bright read, clearly visible even in the dark. She laughed silently to herself, then laid down once more, resting her head against Lincoln's. "I love you, Linc." She murmured softly, allowing herself the tiniest nuzzle, delighting in the tickling sensation of his pale hair brushing against her skin.

"L-love you too, Lynn." Lincoln stammered, gulping audibly as Lynn resumed the spooning position. This was fine. She could content herself with things as they were. For now, at least. And, her objectives more or less achieved, albeit in a very unexpected manner, Lynn allowed herself to finally relax, waiting for sleep to claim her.

Silence fell upon the room, the only sounds to be heard being Lynn's deep breaths in concert with Lincoln's much smaller, quicker breathing. And then...

"Hey..." Lincoln said softly. Lynn didn't move, didn't open her eyes. She didn't want to ruin the moment. As far as she was concerned, this was about as close to perfect as she could get. She was content to let Lincoln have his piece. "Could you imagine what it'd be like if I _was_ still holding onto all that stuff? What it'd be like to live every day regretting some dumb thing you did as a kid?"

_"Stop being selfish, Lynn! You need to let go of him! It's for his own good!"_

_"Screw that! He needs me! I'm doing this for him! And if any of you get in my way, I'm just going to have to go through you!"_

_"Try it! I'm done holding back for your stupid ego! This time the kid gloves come off!"_

"Y-yeah." Lynn replied, her voice quavering ever so slightly. "That would be...terrible."


	5. Chapter 5

Lynn groaned as consciousness returned to her. She kept her eyes firmly shut, refusing to acknowledge the waking world, because doing so would require her to acknowledge what she had already been able to ascertain from context clues.

Lincoln was gone. And as was so often the case, Lynn began her day alone. The one bright spot on this particular morning, which kept her from devolving completely into frustrated melancholy, was that his scent still lingered in the bed they'd shared, a reminder of that special, all too fleeting moment of closeness between the pair. And so Lynn allowed herself to linger for a time, immersing herself in what remained of Lincoln's presence, and reflecting upon how wonderful it had felt to have him in her arms again.

Eventually, however, Lynn was forced to rouse herself. As pleasant as it had been to indulge herself, it just wasn't in her nature to lay about. Other people were free to waste their days lounging around, but _Lynn Loud_ was a proactive go-getter. That's why she was the best. _That's_ why she was number one (despite easily verifiable evidence suggesting that she was not literally number one in a variety of categories). And so, with one last wistful sniff, Lynn leapt to her feet, stood tall, and prepared to face the day.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Lynn found herself slumped across Lincoln's couch. She sighed, frustrated, and glared down at her phone for the umpteenth time. Unfortunately, her ire held no sway over the text displayed on the screen.

A text from Lincoln informed her that her little brother had classes that day, and would be out until late afternoon. This was...disappointing, to say the least. Growing up in a home shared with twelve other people had left Lynn with little desire to live with other people. Once her career as a superhero had progressed to the point where she could afford her own place, she took it. And when the opportunity presented itself, she'd ditched that modest living space and upgraded to a more spacious one. This pattern had repeated several times, until she'd squired an estate so large that she frequently got lost in her own home. Not much of a problem for her, given that her powers made walls more like polite suggestions than actual obstacles. Still, the point was that she valued her space, and from what she'd gleaned from those family members she still kept in contact with, it sounded like her sisters had developed similar mindsets when they'd struck out on their own. And yet, here she was, only a few days into her new living arrangement, and she'd grown so accustomed to the presence of another person that the now empty apartment, small as it was, seemed vastly more empty without her roommate around. The fact that it was _Lincoln_ she was missing only exacerbated the problem. She'd known that Lincoln had a life before she'd invited herself back into it, and she'd also known that there were parts of that life which Lincoln _couldn't_ change, even for her sake, and school was among them. And for the most part she was _fine_ with that. She was happy her little bro had found himself a career path to pursue. And after certain... _inquiries_ she'd made through channels that weren't publicly available, _per se_ , she'd been delighted to find out that Lincoln seemed to be excelling in school. And also that he tended to spend his free time between classes alone, or with his gang of decidedly _male_ friends. These were good things. She wanted her little brother to be living a happy and fulfilling life.

...But she also wanted him to be here. With _her_. Nestled comfortably at her side, their arms wrapped tightly around one another. Maybe he becomes emboldened enough to reach up and undo her ponytail. She regards him with amusement, but also with curiosity, and no small amount of _hope_. But before she can voice the question burning upon her lips, Lincoln pushes her down on the couch, straddles her much larger form, _and_ —

_Bzzt_

Lynn let out a wistful sigh as allowed her daydream to drift away, and turned her attention back to her phone. As enjoyable as that might have been, she couldn't afford to ruin _another_ pair of shorts quite so soon. As she dismissed the message from Lincoln and brought up another, much more recently updated message chain, she resolved to bulk order some more clothes. It seemed like she was going to be needing them, among other things...

The latest message brought a scowl back to her face. She'd _expected_ this, but it didn't make her situation any less frustrating.

Lynn wasn't totally in the loop on how things were progressing with regards to her little "boondoggle" from the other day, but her understanding was that the situation had gotten somewhat "complicated". Her agency had assured her that thee would be no long term repercussions for actions she may or may not have taken regarding a type of structure that may or may not have ever existed to begin with, but for the sake of expediting the proceedings she'd been given encouraged to take a few days off from hero work, and _strongly_ advised to refrain from being seen in public during that time. At the time, Lynn had agreed without a fight. After all, the time off had played nicely into her plans to reconnect with Lincoln. Unfortunately, she was now being told that they'd need a _little_ more time to work things out, and that was making her aware of a very pressing problem with her new situation. She was _bored_.

Lynn wasn't the sedentary type. She loved her job, fighting bad guys and smashing stuff was the best, and she indulged herself as often as she could. And when she wasn't doing actual hero work, she was usually working on getting better at it. She worked out, she trained, she arranged sparring sessions with other heroes to keep her combat skills sharp. Lynn prided herself on staying active, on constantly improving herself.

Over the weekend, with Lincoln constantly around, Lynn hadn't minded being denied her usual recreational activities. But now that he was gone, however temporary his absence was, she was just beginning to realize how little she had to do by herself. She couldn't work out, because her powers required her to use specially made, and _extremely_ expensive equipment to get any sort of challenge. She couldn't work, and she was being _strongly encouraged_ to refrain from leaving the apartment. She couldn't even play that stupid, but strangely engrossing card game Lincoln kept getting them to play, because she needed him around to help her keep the rules straight!

Lynn could not remember any time in her life where she'd been more bored than she was at this particular moment. She'd kill for any sort of distraction. Literally _anything_ to distract her from—

_Ding Dong_

Before the doorbell had even finished ringing, Lynn found herself suddenly standing before the door and reaching for the knob with an eagerness that surprised even her. Then again, the alternative was going back to stewing in her own cesspool of boredom, so decided to take her chances with the door. She gave the knob a twist, and _very gently_ , pulled it open.

"Hey there Liiiiinc...ynn." Stella greeted her with a small wave.

* * *

"Hey, Stella." Lynn returned the greeting with a smile. "Err, I mean, _Polymer_ , right?" The younger girl was in full costume, and it was an unwritten rule among heroes to address each other by their hero names while in uniform. Personally, Lynn didn't care much for the practice. There were heroes who preferred to operate under a code name so they could keep their personal and professional lives separate, but Lynn wasn't one of them, she just didn't see the point. It wasn't like she could blend into a crowd, people tended to notice a giant amazon-woman in their midst. "La Furiosa" wasn't even her idea, it was something her marketing department had come up with so they could sell name brand merchandise of her. Nevertheless, the polite thing to do was to operate under the assumption that a fellow hero wanted to protect their identity, and Lynn tried to respect that.

"Stella's fine." The girl in question said quickly, though Lynn couldn't help but notice the way her eyes darted around as she did so. Lynn suspected Stella wasn't as blase about her secret identity as she was pretending to be.

"Fair enough." Lynn replied, choosing not to acknowledge the younger girl's obvious discomfort. "If you came for Lincoln, he's not here." The way her face immediately fell suggested Lynn had correctly guessed the purpose of this visit.

"W-why would you think I was here to see him?" She stammered, trying to regain her composure. "Maybe I dropped in to see _you_."

"Because _I'm_ up here." Lynn said, raising her arm up to her eye level to illustrate the height difference between the two. "And Lincoln's waaaaaaay down here." She lowered her arm to be level with her torso.

"I don't...I don't follow."

Lynn smirked. "Because when people are expecting to see _me,_ they're typically looking up _here_ somewhere." She raised her arm a little ways upward and began moving it in a circular motion, encompassing her ample bust.

"I don't...I..."

Finally Lynn let out the laugh she'd been holding in. "Loosen up a little, kid, I was just joking." She'd meant to continue, but it was at this point she noticed that Stella was frozen in place, her head tilted upward and her cheeks tinged with crimson.

"Stella, I was joking. You can look away now."

"I _can't_." The shorter girl rasped, weakly trying to jerk her head away.

Lynn peered down and smiled. "I guess it _is_ a lot to take in." She _really_ needed to get some clothes that weren't quite so revealing if she was going to stay here long term. But, truth be told she was kind of hoping to get this kind of reaction from Lincoln first. She knew for a fact her little bro wasn't as oblivious to her feminine charms as he pretended to be. As they'd lain there, huddled together in the dark, Lynn had _felt_ things she'd never felt before, and not all of them had been emotional. She felt pretty confident that Lincoln just needed a helping hand to get him over his reluctance. Preferably one of her's...

"Magnificent..."

The muddled utterance from her guest drew Lynn's attention back to the matter at hand.

"Okay." Lynn chuckled as she clapped hands together, startling the other girl. As Stella stood there, dazed and confused, an idea began to form in Lynn's mind. She reached down grabbed the younger girl by her waist—

"Hey!"

—and slung her over her shoulders. Then Lynn turned around, carefully, so as to not injure her cargo in the relatively cramped entryway, and headed back into the apartment.

"L-lynn! What are you doing?"

"Calm down." Lynn gave Stella a reassuring pat. "Truth be told, I was bored out of my mind before you showed up. But now, I just thought of a way you could _really_ help me out."

"Oh...o-okay..."

* * *

Lynn grunted fiercely as she thrust upward, eliciting a shriek from Stella.

"LYNN!" She squeaked, her voice booming in the small living space. "NOT SO HARD!"

Lynn ignored her pleas, and jerked upward again, prompting a distressed wail from her friend. It wasn't working. And it had seemed like such a good idea, in theory...

"Stella?" She asked, frustrated. "I need more from you."

"M-MORE WHAT?"

"Weight!" Lynn growled. "Either get bigger, or get heavier! Or both!"

The pair currently found themselves in the middle of Lincoln's living room. Lynn had positioned herself underneath the couch and Stella, upon orders from Lynn, had enlarged herself to several times her normal size, and was desperately trying to remain on top of the couch. In _theory_ , Lynn had thought she could take advantage of the younger girl's mass-manipulation abilities to get something resembling a proper work out. But it wasn't working out so well in practice...

"I CAN'T, LYNN!" Stella protested.

"You _can't_ , or you _won't_!"

"YES!"

"Cute." Lynn muttered changing her grip so she could get a better look at Stella's oversized face.

"IF I GET ANY BIGGER, I'm EITHER GOING TO BREAK LINCOLN'S APARTMENT, OR HIS COUCH." She explained. "OR...BOTH." She added, after a moment of reflection.

"What about sideways?" Lynn briefly took one of her hands off the couch so she could gesture demonstratively. Much to her annoyance, even burdened by the younger super heroine the piece of furniture was still disappointingly light.

"THERE ARE _WALLS_ LYNN"

"There don't _have_ to be..."

"LYNN!"

"Fine!" She snapped. Lynn climbed to her feet, still hefting the couch in one hand, and unceremoniously dropped it to the floor. The second she did so Stella snapped back to her normal size, and it occurred to Lynn that was _probably_ the right move to make. What felt light to _her_ might not necessarily feel the same way to Lincoln's aging apartment floor. She flinched as the now unburdened couch hit the ground, eliciting a distressingly loud _creak_ from the flooring. Yeah...she might have just dodged a bullet there.

"Are...are we done then?" Stella asked, hesitant and hopeful.

Lynn sighed in exasperation. "Yes." She grumbled, flopping down on the couch next to Stella. She flinched as the floor let out another alarming _creak_. Stupid judgemental floor...

To her surprise, Stella reached over and gave Lynn a gentle, reassuring pat on her shoulder. The gesture was strangely comforting.

"It seemed like a good idea." Lynn said defensively.

"It did."

"I totally could have figured out how to make it work. Eventually."

"I'm sure you would have."

Lynn wanted to be annoyed at the other girl's refusal to call her out on what had clearly been an idiotic idea from the start. But she didn't. Stella merely sat there, smiling patiently. Not an ounce of judgement in her gaze. It felt...nice.

"Thanks, Stella."

"Anytime, Lynn."


	6. Chapter 6

"Well, that was a bust." Lynn grumbled, sinking as deeply into Lincoln's poor, abused couch as she could. Which wasn't especially far, given that there was considerably more of her than there was of him, but there was a degree of catharsis to the act. It was like a full body sigh; pointless, but affirming in its own way.

"Sorry I roped you into that." She continued. "I'm sure you've got better things to be doing right now."

"Y...yeah." Huh. _That_ wasn't the response she was expecting.

"You showed up here in full uniform." Lynn pointed out, giving the younger girl a sideways glance. "Normally that would mean that you were on your way to do hero work. Or on your way back, I guess. But it's kind of early for that kind of thing, and you don't look like someone who pulled an all nighter."

Stella's only response was to fidget nervously.

"Tell me you didn't show come here hoping to impress my little bro."

"N-no!"

It had been a joke. There were a number of perfectly acceptable reasons why Stella might have the time to bum around here with a normie and his recently turned shut-in sister, but the sheer force of that denial, combined with the way the girl's face flushed crimson, spoke volumes.

"Ease up, Stell." Lynn reassured her. "I was just messing around." Stella's posture relaxed so little that it was almost imperceptible. Good lord, she did have a crush on Lincoln.

Lynn wasn't entirely certain how to feel about this. One the one hand, this obviously conflicted with her own interests, and had it been literally anybody else, Lynn would have already been having a long, stern talk with them about why it would be in their best interests to stay _far away_ from her brother. There would also be some light property damage involved. Purely for demonstrative purposes. Unless they failed to get the _hint_...

On the other hand, it was _Stella_. While they hadn't known each other very long, Lynn couldn't deny that she'd become fond of the girl. Lynn didn't have many people in her life that she'd call friends, and even fewer of them girl friends, so it was a pretty big deal that she found herself enjoying the time they'd spent together. And if she was honest with herself, the way Stella got exponentially more awkward around Lincoln _was_ pretty cute.

...But on the _other,_ other hand, it was _Lincoln_! _Her_ , Lincoln. The boy...now man, who she had agonized over for so very long. And now they were _here_! Together again! They'd just had that wonderful night together! There was... _feelings_ , and _sharing_ , and _cuddling_! So...so much cuddling. Granted, Lynn would have very much preferred for things to have gone farther... _much_ farther, but what they did have that night felt special. It felt _real_. At least, to her, it had. It _was_ real...right?

"I'm on call." Stella said quietly, mercifully pulling Lynn from her inner torment before she could get too wrapped up in her insecurities. _Again_.

Time to focus on less...squishy, matters. Stella was on call, and _that_ explained quite a bit.

While there were a great many meta humans who chose to live quiet lives in the private sector, even after acquiring super human abilities, the vast majority of those lucky individuals chose to build themselves a new identity based around those abilities. So there was never a shortage of bright eyed youngsters hoping to make it big as the next Luminary, or Doctor Malum, depending on where they fell on the morality spectrum. And really, who could blame them? Successful super heroes, and oftentimes even the villains who fought them, had all but replaced traditional celebrities. They moved in the same circles, they raked in the same ridiculous salaries, and they endorsed the same variety of overpriced merchandise. And therein lay the problem. Even in a world as fantastical as theirs had become, heroes were, first and foremost, a commodity.

You didn't _need_ to call in a high profile size changer like Mountainess to rescue a cat from a tree, some would probably argue that a job like that would be a complete waste of her time, and they'd be right. But damned if it didn't make for a great photo op and fantastic PR bump for fans to see a familiar face pitching in to help out the little guy. And if she had a Burpin' Burger logo plastered across her tremendous backside, in plaint view for all to see, well that was just icing on the cake. The truth was that good intentions, and even amazing powers could only take you so far in this world. If you weren't marketable, you weren't anything.

Up and comers like Stella had it the hardest. It wasn't that there was a dearth of work, new super hero agencies sprung up every day, with applicants lined up in droves, hoping to get signed on. The problem was that work didn't trickle very far down the ladder. Easy jobs, the kind newbies would normally cut their teeth on, generally went heroes who had something to promote. It was a lot more difficult to show off the designer label responsible for your flashy new costume if you were preoccupied with dodging lasers and foiling nefarious plots. On the flip side, difficult jobs generally called for heroes with actual experience under their belts. And since those two categories of heroes overlapped more often than not, that didn't leave a whole lot for the fresh faces still trying to break onto the scene. The result was a lot of would-be heroes spending a lot of their time hanging around and waiting for that rare combination of coincidences to come together and give them a chance to strut their stuff. On call, just like Stella.

"Sorry to hear that, kid." Lynn said, giving her friend a sympathetic pat. "But don't worry, everyone gets their break eventually." A polite fiction, but a necessary one.

"That's what I'm told." Stella replied, her smile just the slightest bit strained. Clearly, she already knew.

"Don't sweat it." Lynn waved her hand dismissively. "Tell you what, as soon as I'm off the bench, I'll make some calls. Put in a good word for you, see if we can't give you a little boost."

"Y-you'd do that for me?"

"Of course. Anything for a friend."

"Aw, Lynn..."

"Don't get mushy on me." Lynn chuckled, giving the girl a gentle nudge. "Besides, if Lincoln found out that I didn't at least try to throw you a bone, I'd never hear the end of it. Little bro's always been a do-gooder, especially when it comes to people he cares about."

And once again, Stella was doing her best impression of a fire hydrant. Yikes, that girl had it _bad_.

* * *

"So you don't mind if I hang out here for a while?"

"Not at all." Lynn gestured magnanimously. "Mi casa es su casa."

"Isn't...isn't this Lincoln's place?"

"Details." Lynn waved dismissively. She and Lincoln _lived_ together now (a thought which sent pleasant tingles rippling through her body). The way she saw it, this call was well within her authority authority to make. Besides, not like he was going to turn away a friend in need. Especially one with Stella's puppy-dog eyes, her bro would cave in a nano-second. Which...might be something she'd need to address...eventually. Still, for the moment at least, letting Stella stick around was just sidestepping the formalities.

"Yes." Lynn said, nodding to herself as she reached for the remote. "You are going to stay here and keep me company."

"O-okay." Stella settled in, already looking noticeably more comfortable. "You looking for anything in particular?"

"Not really." Lynn admitted, as she booted up one of Lincoln's streaming services. Which one didn't matter, it was all the same junk. "Just figured I'd try to find something mindless and—"

"Oh my gosh its out!"

Lynn jerked back in surprise as Stella's arm darted forward, elongating much more than was strictly necessary in such a small area, and began frantically pointing at the screen. Unfortunately, this had the added effect of completely blocking Lynn's view. Mildly nonplussed, she took the appendage in her hand and gently pushed it downward. Stella, seemingly understanding her faux pas, grinned sheepishly and retracted her wayward limb. Finally, Lynn was able to see what had gotten her friend so excited.

"Hearts of Fury?" Lynn read aloud. The logo was plastered all over the main menu, meaning that this was presumably a high profile release. Not that she'd know, Lynn usually had better things to do besides vegging out and watching TV. And yet, there was something strangely familiar about this...

_"Lynn, guess what? I landed you this fantastic new project, it's really going to boost your brand!"_

_"Can this wait? The world's sort of in peril. I should really be out there, punching things—_ _"_

_"The world is always in peril!"_

_"And it's_ always _kind of a big deal."  
_

 _"But this could be_ _huge for you!_ "

_"Look, what's the fastest way to end this conversation?"_

_"Sign right here and I'll take care of everything. Granted, you might need to put in some face time at—"_

_"Done and done. Now for smashing!"_

"I'm gonna _kill_ Michelle." Lynn uttered, slapping her palm over her face as she groaned loudly.

* * *

"It's your _show_!" Stella squealed, trembling with barely contained excitement. "I didn't realize it was coming out _today_! This is amazing!"

"It's certainly...something." Lynn replied neutrally, frowning at the screen.

"It's _your_ show!" Stella repeated, gesturing at the screen. "Your first, right? How can you not be more excited!? Social media's been going nuts about this thing for months now!"

"I mean, it's not like I _made_ it."

"You _produced_ it!"

"Co-produced!" Lynn corrected her. "That's a polite way of saying I _let_ them make it _for_ me."

"But it's based on your life." Stella insisted, her eyes shimmering with optimism. "Right!?"

"Well.." Memories quickly flashed through Lynn's mind. "I think I might have...consulted on it? Its really hard to remember—"

"And now we're gonna watch it!" Stella shrieked, pumping her fist enthusiastically. She turned slowly towards Lynn. "Right? Pretty please?" Those _eyes_. Those damnable, impossible to resist _eyes_.

"I..." Lynn swallowed loudly. "I _guess_ we could—"

"Yes!" Stella whooped, snatching the remote from Lynn's lifeless grasp. "This is going to be _amazing_!"

* * *

"This. Is. _Amazing_." Stella whispered, staring unblinking at the screen. Lynn refrained from providing any comment. Not that Stella would hear it, she suspected. The younger heroine had been watching the show with rapt attention for three episodes straight, lost in her own little world.

It was...a show. The fact that it was _loosely_ based on Lynn's superhero career was certainly quaint, but the show itself wasn't anything to write home about.

They'd tapped a big name starlet to headline the thing, but the girl just didn't have the muscles necessary to play Furiosa convincingly. Evidently, at least some people on staff had thought so too, because what _should_ have been a non-stop, action packed thrill-ride was mostly just scenes of "Lynn" standing around and emoting at the camera. It was shallow, it was _boring_ , it was—"

_Boom!_

Suddenly a door was kicked open, and "Lynn" whirled around to face the intruder, falling into what could charitably be called a "fighting stance." It would have been _hilarious_ her name that was being dragged through the mud here

"Furiosa." Said a male voice. "Finally, I've found you."

Lynn cautiously allowed her interest to be piqued. This was the closest the show had come to having some kind of actual conflict. _Maybe_ something was finally going to happen. Then, the new arrival stepped into the scene.

"Landon!" Furiosa cried, hands clasped against her breast. "You're here!"

"Oh wow!" Stella exclaimed.

"Oh _god!_ " Lynn groaned.

* * *

Time crept by _agonizingly slowly,_ every second an eternity of torment for Lynn Loud. It had been _bad_ when "Landon" had arrived, a handsome young man with hair as white as fresh snow. It had gotten _worse_ when, in the midst of the drama happening on screen, Landon had removed his overcoat, revealing a bright, orange polo shit plastered over his broad, muscular chest. And Lynn had just about been ready to die when, after ten minutes of yelling emphatically at one another, Furiosa had leapt into the man's arms and began passionately making out with him. Mercifully, that was also when the end credits began to roll. And so, with one shaking hand, Lynn snatched up the remote and turned the TV off, snapping the appliance in two in her reckless haste. Another thing she'd need to replace, but it was worth it to get... _that_ off the screen.

Lynn turned to her friend and did her best to compose herself. "S-so..." She began, trying to keep her voice level. "That sure was—"

"Who _was_ that!"

Time got...funny. One second, Lynn was lounging upright, and the next she was flat on her back with Stella straddling her midsection.

"I... _what_?" Lynn asked.

" _Who. Was. That!?"_ Stella repeated. She placed her hands upon Lynn's shoulders and began shaking her. "That guy! _The_ guy! Who _was_ he? _What_ is he? I _need to know what happened!_ "

"M-Nothing!"Lynn protested weakly, trying to dislodge her. But Stella metaphorically dug in her heels by literally wrapping her lower body around Lynn's, like a python encircling its prey.

"That can't be nothing!" Stella insisted. "The passion! The romance! The drama! You can't just _make something like that up_!"

"It's television. They literally do. All the—"

"Not like _that_!" Stella growled, her gaze boring into Lynn's. "Landon and Furiosa are _amazing_ together! That had to come from somewhere. And _I_. _Want_. _Details_!"

It was a strange predicament Lynn found herself in. Stella, normally so sweet and demure, now loomed over Lynn, her eyes wide and her body trembling with some sort of manic energy. It was unnerving _and_ terrifying in equal measure. But Lynn wasn't especially keen on exploring whatever...strangeness had managed to slip its way into her show.

Fortunately, she wouldn't have to.

As Lynn was seriously considering the merits of bisecting her own body to avoid having this conversation—

_KABOOM_

—The wall connecting Lincoln's home to the rest of the apartment complex _exploded_ inward, scattering debris everywhere, as well as sending the mostly intact remains of the front door hurtling directly toward the pair of super heroines.

Her instincts kicking in, Lynn leapt to her feet, pushed Stella downward, and swiped at the incoming chunk of door, causing it to shatter harmlessly into countless, tiny fragments. She took a moment to mourn for the poor abused thing, knowing that she had played no small part in its untimely demise.

A loud crackling noise accompanied by the smell of burning ozone brought her attention back to the matter at hand. Namely the curvaceous blonde woman floating in the remains of Lincoln's entryway, crackling spheres of energy clenched in her fists and murder in her eyes.

"Lynn Loud!" She bellowed as a pure white energy aura sprung to life around her, incinerating what little debris remained in her immediate vicinity. " _You are coming with me!_ "

And in spite of it all, Lynn found herself smiling. This was something she could punch. _This_ , was something she could handle.

"Hey there, Lori." She said, giving each of her knuckles a good, loud crack. "Long time no see."


	7. Chapter 7

Out amid the darkness of space, a shining beam of light could be seen streaking across the endless, star speckled vacuum. An observer might mistake this phenomenon for a comet, or a shooting star, but a closer examination would reveal a heavenly body of an entirely different variety, as one would be able to see the beautiful blonde woman nestled within the shimmering light. Clad in a sky blue leotard, which left her shapely legs as well as a considerable expanse of cleavage exposed, boots and finger-less gloves several shades darker, the heroine known as Luminary soared through the cosmos, her long white cape fluttering behind her in the nonexistent breeze. A weary smile worked its way onto her face as the familiar sight of the Justice Tower, a massive orbital station dedicated to meta-human operations, came into view. She had planned for a long mission, and it had ended up even longer still. But now her goal was finally in sight, and it wouldn't be long before she could finally treat herself to a well-deserved rest.

A buzzing in her ear pulled the woman from her tantalizing fantasies of a hot shower and a warm bed, and it was with no small amount of irritation that she reached up and activated the com-bead lodged there.

"Star light, star bright. First star I see tonight..."

"Very funny." She grumbled, allowing her mask to slip for the briefest of moments. Luminary was a public icon, hero to many and a positive role model to even more. _She_ was required to be on her best behavior at all times. But here, out in the dark reaches of space, far away from the cameras and the thousands of prying eyes that were always upon her (specifically certain _parts_ of her), it was therapeutic to allow Lori Loud to come out every now and then.

"Copy that, Luminary. Just trying to have a little fun." Replied a very peeved female voice.

"Do it on your own time." Lori growled. "I'm guessing that means you've seen me and I'm cleared to land, _right?_ " It was difficult to keep the urgency out of her voice. Even wrapped in a protective cocoon of cosmic energy, space was surprisingly cold. And also dirty, movies never mentioned how much grim where was floating about out here. Not a day went by without her deeply regretting her decision to make a white cape part of her look, but at this point it was simply too iconic to change. At least, that's what the folks in marketing told her, and she _presumed_ they knew what they were talking about. The exorbitant salaries they charged certainly suggested as much.

"Roger, Airlock C has been cleared for your use. Head on over and then come visit, I'll have a nice pot of coffee ready for your arrival."

That _did_ sound nice. "Thanks. I'll see you in a few, Telek...Telek..." Lori grimaced as she stumbled over the name for what had to be the millionth time by this point.

"It's _Telekinemiss_." The voice chastised her, sounding indignant. "Because I'm a girl and I have telekinesis!"

"It's a mouth full, is what it is." Lori countered, discretely spitting out a bit of space dust that had managed to make it past her aura. "Just get the coffee ready and I'll see you in a few, Whitney."

* * *

"And _here_ you go." Announced the curly haired blonde as Lori stepped into the Justice Tower's data center. "Stepped" was actually giving her a bit too much credit, even after all these years transitioning out of a zero-G environment still left her a little disorientated, and flying around only delayed the inevitable. Lori had learned that the best way to deal with the problem was just to suck it up and wobble around for a bit, _especially_ here on the Tower where her fellow heroes were willing to politely look the other way, and the walls were sturdy enough that she could cling to one without accidentally punching a hole in it.

"Thank you, _Whitney_." Lori replied, her tone somewhat terse as she eyed the steaming mug in her friend's hand. Once again, Whitney was handing her the piping hot cup of scalding liquid while _still holding onto the handle_. But, seeing as she'd already snapped at the girl earlier, Lori simply grabbed the mug without further complaint, her powers kicking in almost without conscious thought and draining the heat from the porcelain so that she could comfortably hold the cup without discomfort. Once again, that particular trick was paying dividends. It said something when in an organization that regularly dealt with threats both planetary and interplanetary, the most common injury for staff members was being given a hot drink by Whitney.

Realizing she'd been staring musing just a bit too long, Lori took a quick sip of the now significantly cooler drink, and "mmm'd" loudly. Truth be told, it wasn't all that great, it was a sub-par batch and Lori wasn't the biggest fan of coffee to begin with. Cocoa was her drink of choice when she wanted to unwind after a long mission. Sweet, delicious, chocolatey cocoa, but she couldn't _have_ cocoa on the job because her PR team would throw a fit. It wasn't even about getting fat, her altered physiology burnt calories ridiculously fast, they were just worried that she'd set a bad example to the kids.

" _Coffee's not exactly great for them either!" Lori had complained._

_"It's not."_ _A marketing executive admitted. "But we're hoping to work out a brand deal with Bean Bux, so stick to coffee."_

"You got a new outfit." Lori observed as she took her seat, letting out a small moan of delight as she sank into the plush cushions that contorted themselves to her body. _That_ one was real. Whitney could be a bit of a ditz, but she knew how to pick a chair.

"Do you _love_ it?" Whitney asked, doing a little twirl. Whitney went through more costume revisions than any other meta Lori knew, despite the fact that she hadn't done field work on a regular basis in quite some time now. Today it was a purple jumpsuit with white gloves, boots, and an admittedly spiffy scarf, which really tied the whole thing together. It reminded her of something, rekindled something in Lori's brain, vague memories of a pre-meta world, when she'd watch a show about a team of super heroines who dressed very similarly. It wasn't very good, from her recollection. The writing was cliche, the episodes were incredibly formulaic, and the special effects used for the fight scenes, where the girls would grow giant sized and fight other scantily clad girls were _terrible_. But... _he_ loved that show, for whatever reason, and when he'd ask her to watch with him, Lori was always happy to oblige.

Lori's response was a noise that honestly could have meant anything, but Whitney seemed to take it as a compliment. As her friend got herself situated, Lori took another sip from her mug and grimaced, frowning at the pitch black liquid. She needed sugar, and not the faux artificial sweetener they kept on the Tower, the _real_ stuff. She'd gut it out for now, but the _second_ she was back planet side she'd make a quick detour to her secret stash and pick out a few choice goodies. Something that would make her teeth hurt. Lord knew she deserved it.

"So fill me in on what I've missed." Said Lori, making herself comfortable.

"Right." Whitney nodded as she turned her attention to a nearby terminal. "Just let me bring up your reports." The girl's fingers flew over the attached keyboard with practiced ease, and with her keen eyesight, Lori was even able to catch a few glimpses of the keys that would press _themselves_. Whitney had to be the only person in the history of super heroes, real or fictional, who'd thought to use her telekinetic abilities to make herself a better typist. But damned if it didn't work, the girl's WPM score was off the charts.

"Got them!" Whitney sang, delivering one last, decisive keystroke. "Now let me see..."

Lori allowed herself to sink a little deeper into her chair. She suspected she was going to need the added comfort.

"Your new line of dolls are being delayed. Turns out that light up action gimmick they tried to work in has a small chance of causing the doll to explode."

"Was it really that hard to stick in a light bulb and some batteries?"

Whitney shrugged. "Apparently miniature fission reactors are cheaper. But they're pretty confident they can get the chance of failure down to a single digit by the end of the month."

"I'm going to need to have a talk with those idiots about what's okay to put my face on." Lori grumbled, massaging her temples. "Alright, what's next?"

"You're set to appear on the Really Late Yet Still Surprisingly Early Show alongside Hourlass next week—"

"Cancel it." Came Lori's immediate reply. That show was a chore to do appearances for. To say nothing of her fellow guest...

"Can't." Whitney said, gesturing helplessly. "You've retroactively agreed. You should be remembering any second now."

She did. _Now_.

"It's really difficult to be friends with someone who plays around with the time stream for fun." Lori grumbled, taking another swig of her terrible coffee.

"Funny, Carol said the same thing. Only about people who like to throw her into the sun for kicks."

"It was _one time_!" Lori protested. "And I only did it because I knew she'd undo it!"

Whitney blinked in confusion. "Then...how are we talking about it?"

Lori held up one hand to forestall any further questions. "Just, just stop there. Trust me, it doesn't do you any good to dwell on how her powers actually work." She took a quick breath and exhaled, trying to calm herself down. "Look, how many more of these are about my career?"

Whitney squinted at the screen. "A lot. I think I'd need to send this to the Super Science division if you want an exact number."

"No...no need for that." Lori waved her hand dismissively. "Look, what's going on with the planet? Tell me about the _important_ stuff."

"Well..." Whitney pursed her lips, concentrating. "That one company is still trying to get ahold of you. The one that wants to do a TV series based on your life—"

"Whitney!"

"Alright, alright, geeze." The other girl rolled her eyes. "I'll try filtering by the keyword 'crisis', that sound better?"

It did. "Proceed."

Whitney punched in the command. "I have...five results now."

That sounded like something she could deal with.

"And..." Whitney winced. "All of them involve your sister."

Lori felt an annoyed twitch coming on. "Please tell me you mean Lucy." She pleaded.

"'Fraid not, Umbra's still doing her stint in the shadow dimension. I'm talking about Lynn."

"Of _course_ you are."Lori let out a frustrated sigh, then took another sip of her coffee. "What's going on with her? I remember hearing she'd gotten wrapped up in something, but I was heading off planet so I couldn't get any details. Something about a bri—"

"Ixnay on the b-word." Whitney smoothly cut in. "We still haven't been given the all clear from Legal. Until then, we refuse to admit or deny that they actually exist, or ever have existed. In this dimension or any other."

"Figures." Lori muttered. "Fine. What's the fallout then?"

"Not...actually all that much, surprisingly." Whitney replied, as she perused her screen. "People love Furiosa. Oh! Speaking of which, you've _got_ to watch _Hearts of Fury!_ It's so goo—"

"Whitney!"

"Right, right." The other girl held her hands up apologetically. "Anyway, like I was saying, she's really popular so the higher ups aren't too keen to bring the hammer down on her. Looks like she got a light suspension and an _emphatic_ suggestion to stay home for a while."

"Well, _that's_ good to hear." Lori smirked. "Lynn's gotta hate being stuck at home, she's probably going nuts. Serves her right."

"Actually, according to this she's been staying somewhere else."

Lori stopped herself mid-sip. "Say what?"

Whitney shrugged. "She's _alive_ if that's what you're worried about—"

"It's not." Lori deadpanned. "If her diet hasn't killed her by this point, nothing will."

"Her vitals seem fine, least as far as the HeroMed network can tell. She's just been transmitting from another location since the incident, that's all."

" _Where. Is. She_." Lori growled, tightening her grip on her coffee mug. Something about this didn't add up, and it was really agitating her. Lynn's social circle was basically nonexistent. Sure, she'd have her meathead pals over to watch the SportsBall playoffs or something, but they didn't exactly meet up for tea and chitchat. If this was true, she'd been holed up somewhere else for _days._ She wouldn't have been surprised if the real reason Lucy was off gallivanting about in a dimension filled with terrors beyond human comprehension was so that she couldn't be tapped for this _exact thing_! Who, on this planet or any other, could possibly stand to be around Lynn Loud for that long of a time?!

 _"Hey."_ Her subconscious pipped up. " _Remember that time Lynn and Lucy got into a big fight? So Lynn ended up bunking with—_ "

"Not _now_." Lori hissed to herself.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." She shook her head, trying to focus. "Where has she been?"

"Hold your horses, I've got the GPS coordinates and I'm running them through the system. Should have her exact location in a few seconds." Whitney gave Lori a sidelong glance. "I don't know what you're getting so worked up about. She's getting paid to bum around at home for a while, I wouldn't be surprised if she decided to shack up with her boyfriend or something. You know, get some... _quality time_ in." Seemingly fearful that Lori wouldn't pick up on the subtlety, Whitney threw in a wink. Then another.

"Lynn doesn't _have_ a boyfriend." Lori scoffed. "She's _never_ had a boyfriend."

"You _really_ need to watch that show."

" _Whitney!"_

"Ding!" Her friend announced cheerfully. "Turkey's done. System says she's been transmitting from..." Whitney's expression fell slightly, her features suddenly marred by puzzlement. "Wait, let me double check this."

"Where, Whitney." Lori urged, as her heart began to beat more rapidly.

"Guess I was right the first time. Looks like she's been transmitting from...Site Lambda."

Lori's mug shattered in her hand, the pieces not lucky enough to be sent flying quickly pulverized as her inhumanly strong fist involuntarily clenched tightly.

"What?" Lori growled, her body beginning to tremble as tiny sparks began breaking out across her body in rapid succession.

"Site Lambda. You know, that apartment building you keep under observation? You spend a ridiculous amount of your personal finances to make sure an emergency team is prepped and ready to go at all times, just in case we get a distress call from that building. How could you possibly forget what that is?"

"It wasn't a _question_ , it was an exclamation of disbelief!" Lori snapped, leaping to her feet. She spun around and immediately began stalking towards the door, a torrent of swirling energy springing to life around her, sending small objects and loose paperwork flying everywhere.

"Lori wait! Where are you going!?"

"She broke the agreement!" Lori snapped, not bothering to look back. "I need to get down there. _Now_."

"Give me a few minutes and I can—" Lori didn't hear the rest, she was already hurrying down the hallway, her feet barely touching the ground as her energy aura began shining brighter and brighter.

* * *

"Shoot!" Whitney exclaimed, slapping her desk in frustration. She fumbled for her intercom and jammed the button as fast as she could, every passing second feeling like an eternity until _finally_ someone answered.

"Calm the heck down! This is Airlock C, what's going—"

"This is Data Center. No time for chit-chat! Get the airlock clear, _now_!"

"Are you kidding me? We're in the middle of unloading—"

"If its anything explosive, get it the hell out of there right now! Anything else, well..." She winced. "We'll just have to take our chances I guess. Luminary's on her way, and she's going out hot."


	8. Chapter 8

Lori's jaw clenched involuntarily as she stared as Lynn from across the room. So smug. So cocky. Never thinking about the repercussions of her actions. Well no more! This time Lynn had gone too far, and just as it had when they were kids, it fell upon Lori to teach Lynn the error of her ways. Though, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't looking forward to this, _just_ a little bit. This confrontation was a _long_ time coming. Now confident she was making the right decision, Lori raised one of her energy clad firsts, and prepared to rush forward and ram it straight into wayward little sister's stupid, grinning _face—_

...Only to abruptly halt as she noticed an unfamiliar girl who was staring up at her, from _well_ within Lori's comfort zone, eyes wide like saucers and an enormous grin on her face.

"Can I...help...you?" Lori asked awkwardly. Literally, because she was in the middle of charging at her wayward sibling, one fist cocked and crackling with energy, which wasn't exactly the most comfortable position from which to hold a conversation from, but also due to the fact that this girl (a hero herself, given the costume she wore), seemed to have zero issues with approaching someone in such a state. The girl's response was to thrust a small notebook and a pen in Lori's direction. Strange, she could have _sworn_ the girl's hands were vacant only nanoseconds ago—

"I-I'm sorry, but...can I have your autograph!?" The girl squeaked, vigorously waving the proffered objects around. "I'm just...just such a fan!"

"Hey!" Lynn called out, displeasure clearly written on her face.

"I'm still your fan too Lynn, honest! But come on, it's _Luminary_! I've been pinching myself since the second the exploded her way in here—"

Lori winced as she took in the rather substantial portion of apartment she'd vaporized on her way in. Yeah, she might have overdone her entrance just a bit...

"—Ouch! See? She's still here! With you! This is the best day of my life!"

Lynn's response was to cross her arms across her chest and scoff. "She's not so great." The athlete turned superhero grumbled sullenly.

This was only getting weirder. In the interest of pushing past...whatever this was, Lori dismissed the energy being stored in her fist, then reached down and plucked the notebook and pen out of the girl's hands.

"Sure thing." She said, flipping past several pages of Lynn signatures before she finally found a blank one. "Who should I make this out to?"

"Stella!" Cried the girl. "No, wait...Polymer? That's my hero name, but...then I wouldn't be able to show it to anybody. But it's not like I have a ton of people to show it to anyway—"

"To Stella." Lori recited as she scribbled down her message. "Heroes are not born, they're made. Looking forward to seeing what you make of yourself." She gave it a once over to make sure everything was legible and spelled correctly (no need for a repeat of the "Have a knife day" incident), then added her signature at the bottom. Satisfied with her handiwork, she slid the pen into the notebook and handed the bundle back.

Stella took back her possessions, saying nothing, but the rapturous look on her face spoke volumes. And in spite of everything that had lead to her standing here, in her little brother's rubble-strewn apartment, Lori found herself smiling. There was something oddly nostalgic about this strangely mundane brand of weirdness.

And yet...something was bothering her. While Stella _seemed_ pleasant enough, Lori had no idea who this girl was. Granted, she'd been off planet for several days now, and hadn't yet gotten the opportunity to meet with her surveillance team and find out what had happened during her absence, but Lori prided herself on keeping herself abreast of her little brother's affairs.

The ugly truth of the matter was that Lincoln was related to a number of prominent metas on both sides of the law, and _that_ made him a target. There were a lot of people out there looking for ways to get at their family, sometimes with truly evil intent, but mostly out of simple greed, or spite, and it often wasn't long before those types of people hit upon the a mundane, non-meta member of the family might be an ideal way of achieving those goals. Those people were wrong, sometimes _tragically_ so, but only because Lori made it a point to watch her little brother from afar, and quietly intercede whenever the it seemed necessary. Stella was an anomaly, something that _should_ have been intercepted and gently diverted before she could make too big of an impact. After all, the _last_ thing Lincoln needed in his life was more metas. Cute, _female_ metas prancing around in skintight outfits least of all.

"Hey, Stella?" Lori asked, trying to keep her voice level. "Can I call you Stella, by the way?"

"Absolutely!"

Oof, the sheer amount of enthusiasm in that statement actually made her wince. This was going to be like kicking a puppy. But somehow worse.

"Great." She continued. "Listen, this is gonna sound a little weird, but I'm gonna need you to..."

Lori trailed off as she sensed movement behind her, and she spun around, all thoughts of the strange girl quickly forgotten. She caught a glimpse of her younger, but _much_ larger sister looming over her, and darted to the side—

_FWOOSH_

Barely avoiding the kick that had been aimed squarely at where Lori had been floating only moments earlier.

"Don't even think about it." Lynn growled, as the pair squared off once more.

"Think about _what_?"

"Whatever you were going to say!" Lynn retorted as she launched a haymaker right at Lori's face. The blonde simply drifted sideways, easily avoiding the blow. She prepared to return the favor, but hesitated, choosing to instead throw herself backwards, and in doing so just _barely_ avoided the real attack, a low strike at her solar plexus. Classic Lynn. People saw La Furiosa's size and strength and tended to write her off as a lumbering brute, and Lynn's general attitude towards life didn't help matters much. But those people didn't know that Lynn Loud had been small and scrappy for most of her life, forced to make up for her shortcomings with a combination of grit, cunning, and the kind of skill that only comes from dedication to one's craft. A potent combination, and one that had only gotten more dangerous once Lynn had gotten powers that leveled the playing field.

"I was going to tell her to keep her hands off Lincoln!" Lori retorted, rocketing towards Lynn and sending a flurry of blows her way, seeking to test the younger girl's defenses. None of them hit their target, as Lynn moved with surprising speed and managed to catch each and every one on her large forearms.

"Don't pretend you weren't thinking the same thing!" Lori continued as she floated back up in the air, trying to deny Lynn the opportunity to counter attack."It isn't hard to guess why you're here!" To her surprise, the larger girl visibly flinched.

"D-don't pretend you care what I do!" Lynn shouted back.

"I care when your impulsiveness puts other people at risk!" Lori shot back. "I care when you're willing to throw away _his_ happiness because of your own selfishness!"

"It's not like that!" Lynn scooped up a hand full of debris and flung it at Lori. This time she didn't even bother to dodge, simply opting to summon her aura instead. The energy field blazed to life, incinerating each of the improvised projectiles long before they could reach her.

"It's _exactly_ like that." Lori replied, a _bit_ more smugly than she'd intended. "It's _always_ like that! And it's always going to _be_ like that, because you can't _help_ yours—GAH!"

Lori's moment of triumph was cut short as Lynn launched herself into the air, wrapping herself around the airborne blonde and using her greater mass to yank the pair earthward. Lori was barely able to exert enough counter force to prevent them from crashing through the floor, but that meant taking the full brunt of Lynn's unorthodox body slam. She let out a wordless cry as they hit the ground, the flooring still creaking in a very distressing manner despite Lori's best efforts, and for an instant her world went dark. Then, vision returned, and she could see Lynn straddling her, one meaty fist cocked and ready to be driven home.

"He _can't_ be _happy_!" The brunette hissed, her body quivering with barely repressed rage. "None of you have ever understood that! He _can't_ be happy if he doesn't have _me!"_

Lynn's fist shot forward, falling upon Lori like a meteor. Unable to dodge at this range, Lori wrenched her arms up and crossed them in front of her face. At the last possible second, she pulled her arms back and _pushed_ forward as hard as she could.

There was a sound like a small thunderclap as Lynn's fist met Lori's outstretched palms, the unstoppable meeting the unstoppable, and though it forced her to leverage every ounce of strength she could muster from her current position, Lynn's fist stopped.

"Typical Lynn." Lori wheezed. "Always trying to muscle your way through things. Good thing I'm not exactly a slouch in that department myself."

"I have _another_ hand!" Lynn growled, now bringing her other clenched fist to bear. "Good luck stopping this one!"

"Don't _need_ luck." Muttered Lori as she concentrated. Her hands, still clasped around Lynn's began to shine, and angry crackling cutting through the air as Lori began drawing on more and more of reserves, channeling them into her fists. Lynn's eyes widened, seemingly realizing the predicament she now found herself in, and Lori allowed herself a small, victorious smile. All she needed was a few more moments, and _then_ she'd—

"What the _hell_ happened to my wall!?"

* * *

Lori's eyes locked with Lynn's, sky blue meeting hazelnut. And then a phenomenon occurred, one which had not been seen in many years now, long before the arrival of the comet that had irreversibly changed all their lives. Loud Sister High Speed Telepathy.

The untrained observer would merely see two girls staring at one another, but in the space between thoughts an extensive debate was being waged. Points were argued for and against, evidence presented and dismissed, and there was a short break for cake and coffee while the minutes from a previous meeting were retrieved from deep within stage. Eventually, the girls were able to come to a mutual agreement.

 _"The only thing that could possibly make Lincoln more angry at this point, would be watching one of us kill the other."_ They silently concluded.

 _"Well, to be fair, I wasn't actually going to_ kill _you."_

_" **No** , you weren't."_

_"Because I was only planning on beating you unconscious. Just wanted to make sure we were clear on that."_

_"Fat chance. I had you **right** where I wanted you._ _"_

_"Only if you **wanted** me to kick your teeth in. Because I was_ clearly—"

"—For a _few hours_! That's all! I _thought_ you could go at _least_ that long without—"

" _Wow, he's still going."_

_"We should probably get up off the floor now."_

_"Lets_."

In silent agreement, the Loud sisters released each other, rolled a short distance apart from one another and leapt to their feet. Each desperately trying to look nonchalant, and _not_ like they had just been in the middle of a heated battle.

"And _now_ my wall is _gone_!"

...Which, admittedly, was going to be really hard, given the state of the apartment.

"Honestly!" Lincoln flung his hands out in exasperation, seemingly having exhausted himself for the moment.

It occurred to Lori that Lincoln hadn't actually _looked_ at her by this point. It seemed like it was _entirely_ possible that he hadn't even realized it was _her_ who had intruded upon his life once more. She looked towards the far end of the apartment, and gauged the distance. Right now he was distracted. If she made her move, she could simply _leave_ , with Lincoln none the wiser. It's not like Lynn was going to tell him that it was _Lori_ of all people who'd shown up. That wouldn't fit into her plans. Stupid plans, to be sure. Dangerous plans. Plans which Lori would almost certainly need to deal with at some point. For Lincoln's sake, of course. But _today_ didn't have to be that day. All she had to do...was leave.

Lori had been on the cusp of doing exactly that. But then, Lincoln stumbled.

In all likelihood it hadn't been anything serious. The Loud boy had come home from a long day at school and proceeded to scream his lungs out. Anyone would be fatigued in those circumstances. If left to his own devices, it was extremely likely that he simply would have caught himself, and carried on.

But Lori had never been the type who was capable of thinking rationally when her siblings were involved. She saw her brother's brief moment of weakness, and her heart said " _Save him_."

Faster than a human eye could follow, Lori rocketed towards the unbalanced Loud boy, and gently slid to a stop behind him. Her arms outstretched, hand waiting, expectantly. They would never know how far Lincoln Loud would have fallen that day, because it was only millimeters into his descent that he found himself supported by a pair of strong, protective arms.

Lori's body moved on its own, this was a procedure that Luminary performed on a daily basis. Gently push the victim back up on to their feet, keep your arm around them _just_ in case they weren't quite ready to stand on their own yet, then look them in the eyes and confidently reassure them that everything was going to be okay. It was that last step that made Lori falter. The words died on her lips as she found herself staring into her little brother's sweet, freckled, and utterly dumbfounded face.

"Lori?" His whispered hoarsely.

Aw...dang it.


	9. Chapter 9

On the outside, Lori stared back at Lincoln, cool and collected in the face of their impromptu reunion. Luminary had faced down alien warlords, eldritch horrors, and on one occasion a sentient, omnipotent burrito who claimed to have created the universe. The scene currently in play, of her, casually cradling a swooning civilian she'd just rescued, was old hat to her, and anyone who captured this particular moment for their social media would see it instantly forgotten amid the numerous, nearly identical instances that had been similarly preserved.

Internally, however, Lori Loud was having a meltdown that had been long in the making. These feelings came from a variety of places. There was, of course, this completely unintended meeting with the sibling that she had willfully torpedoed her relationship with, in a desperate attempt to ensure that he'd grow up happy and safe. There was also the fact that the source of the guilt she'd spent the better part of a decade dutifully enduring was now, _literally_ staring her in the face. But, chief among all these things—

 _"Come on, Lori!"_ She urged herself. " _Don't get lost in that smoldering,_ **penetrating** _gaze..."_

—Was that in her absence, her baby brother had grown up. And much to her dismay, he looked... _really_ good.

Obviously, it hadn't escaped Lori's notice that Lincoln had aged with the passing of time. The surveillance reports she received on a regular basis kept her in the loop as to the particulars of her little brother's circumstances; medical, financial, social (that one was always mercifully threadbare), but those were just words and numbers on a page. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for Lori to drop by whenever the whim struck her, and even easier to do so without Lincoln knowing she was around, but that was precisely why she couldn't allow herself to do so. Allowing herself to indulge in that weakness would just cause history to repeat itself, and that was something that Lori simply could not condone. The Agreement _worked_. Forcibly excising the Loud girls from their brother's life had been the best thing to happen to Lincoln. Absent their chaotic and destructive presence, Lincoln had grown up safe, stable and...happy? She wasn't actually all too certain about the last one, her reports didn't include a happiness quotient, no matter how many times she'd requested that particular addition, but he _was_ happy and stable. And two out of the three weren't so bad, right? And this arrangement only worked so long as the golden rule was maintained: no contact with Lincoln, under **any** circumstances.

Which was why it was so distressing for Lori to find herself standing _here_. On forbidden ground. Holding her prodigal little brother in her arms.

Time had been good to Lincoln, in her absence her fresh-faced little brother had become a not so little **man**. He was a bit too thin for her liking. His eyes tended to squint, suggesting long hours spent in front of a computer screen, or pouring over textbooks, and there were worry lines already creased deeply into his brow. But, in spite of that, it was still Lincoln. The chipped teeth, the snow-white hair, those adorable sun-kissed cheeks of his, those things were all still there. They had simply been transplanted onto an older individual, more mature of body, and robust of frame. And although it might not be her place to say so, in her opinion Lincoln carried it all quite well. _Too_ well, perhaps, and that was the problem.

In spite of the fact that Lori regularly operated in a professional capacity while wearing little more than a swimsuit, she had never been a particularly self-conscious person. Frankly, it was pretty much impossible to be, at this stage in her life. Awkward Phase Lori was but a distant memory, even before her empowering. Ascending to metahood had only made her more of a bombshell, and learning to tune out the constant, admiring gazes she received while out in public had been among the first hurdles she'd needed to tackle to make it as a hero. And yet it was only here, under the gaze of her long lost brother, that Lori finally felt...well, naked, in multiple senses of the word.

" _Does...does he like the outfit?"_ Lori wondered to herself, resisting the urge to adjust her skin-tight garment. It was another habit she'd had to learn to suppress as part of her job. Her costume, like those of many metahumans, was precariously designed on purpose, so as to allow onlookers to entertain the thought that _something_ , _somewhere_ , might pop free if the circumstances were right, and it would be a very good idea to keep their eyes squarely on the hero in question _just in case_. In truth, the chance was nearly nonexistent. No matter how much abuse the bearer might take, the worst they could typically expect was a tasteful tear or two in carefully calculated, camera-friendly segments of the costume. Such was the wonder of Span-X, the material that all modern-day meta-human costumes were made from. While it wouldn't actually _protect_ the wearer, the fabric itself was nearly indestructible and guaranteed to ensure that a hero would always look their best, no matter how imperiled they'd become. A design philosophy which, so perfectly matched the mind of its inventor, that it was a wonder Leni hadn't come up with it sooner.

" _He's not even looking at it!"_ Lori realized, horrified and _just_ a little bit miffed at the unintended slight. " _He's looking me in the eyes like...like I'm a person or something! What is **wrong** with you, Lincoln Loud!? It's fine, it's fine, stay calm Lori, you can fix this. Clearly, Lincoln is just too overwhelmed by the situation to be able to appreciate your charms. Just need to shift your weight...a little...there we go, got a nice bounce going. Then we nonchalantly stretch our...wait, is Lincoln a leg man? Are we barking up the wrong tree? Wait, why are his lips moving? Has he been talking all this time?"  
_

 _"..._ my wall! Again! This is just like the time Lisa built that stupid death ray—!"

Internally, Lori winced at reference. Yeah, that wasn't something she'd wanted Lincoln to be dwelling upon. But that was _fine_ , all she needed to do was apply some good old fashioned diplomacy. She prepared to give him her most dazzling smile (quite literally, as it involved making her teeth glow). The smile that made men swoon and women...also swoon, but in a slightly different way. She gently peeled back her lips, fluttered her eyelashes just so, _and_ —

"Just...why?" Said Lincoln, sighing in frustration as he went limp in her arms. Strange, had she really been holding onto him this entire time? "Why are you here... _now_?"

Lori blinked, and the world around her snapped into focus as if she'd awakened from a particularly long nap. There was a young man in her arms. He was visibly upset, frustrated beyond belief, his body language made that clear beyond belief. And in his eyes, fear. Not of the criminal who'd been apprehended by a being far more powerful than them, nor of the villain who has just witnessed their scheme crumble around them, knowing that justice was at hand.

He was afraid that she was going to hurt him again. Not with her fist, but with her indifference. Once bitten, twice shy.

Lori tried to muster words of comfort, but none would come. After all, Lincoln had every right to be afraid. She was going to have to hurt him again, for his own good.

* * *

A great weight fell upon Lori's shoulders. She'd assumed this was guilt over what she was going to have to do...but then it started... _squeezing._ Really, _really_ hard. To the point where it was starting to cause her actual, tangible, _physical_ pain. Casting a glance to the side, Lori saw that in truth, the culprit was a rather large hand placed atop each of her shoulders. She craned her neck upward, and as she'd suspected, found herself meeting the gaze of Lynn, who was now looming over the pair. She was smiling, but the way her lips were trembling suggested that this may not have been entirely genuine.

"Actually..." Lynn interjected, sucking air through her teeth. " _I_ invited her here."

Wait, what?

"Wait..." Lincoln said, his emotional turmoil briefly replaced by confusion. "...what?"

"Thaaat's _right_." Lynn said, laughing softly as she gave Lori a friendly pat. The kind that sent tremors rippling through the floorboards. "I _asked_ her to come over."

Lori's eyes narrowed as she locked gazes with Lynn.

 _"What are you doing?_ " She asked, silently.

" _Salvaging this situation!_ "

" _There's nothing you can—"_

 _"The hell there isn't! Granted, you're the_ last _person I'd rather do this with, but if dragging you along for the ride keeps you from being stupid again, then that's what I'm going to do!"  
_

Lori seethed as her younger sister's stubbornness. " _Listen, Lynn. You think I like doing this? I don't. At all. But Lincoln_ needs _this—"_

She was abruptly cut off as the force clamped around her shoulder dramatically increased in pressure, _actually_ starting to hurt just a bit.

" _No,_ you _listen!"_ Contrary to the name, Loud Sister Telepathy was actually accomplished via a complex system of microexpressions used to convey meaning. Tone was quite a bit harder to convey, but Lynn's face made it very clear that she'd be snarling if her words were uttered aloud.

" _Lincoln needs_ this _!"_ She continued, gesturing to herself. " _And_ this. _Unfortunately."_ She punctuated that statement with another squeeze. The temptation to burn that hand off was growing stronger by the moment.

 _"Just look at him!"_ Said Lynn, grabbing Lori's face with one hand. " _Does he_ look _happy?"_ Before Lori could respond, Lynn jerked her head forward, forcing Lori to look their brother straight in the eye. He...certainly didn't look happy. He...actually looked pretty...

" _Eggplant."_ Said Lincoln.

The already silent room somehow grew more silent. Slowly, Lori craned her neck upward, once more meeting the gaze of an equally baffled Lynn.

 _"Did he just..."_ Began Lynn.

" _C-couldn't have."_ Concluded Lori, emphatically shaking her head. She looked towards their brother once more.

" _Eggplant."_ Lincoln repeated. _"Wait, no. I kin understind you? Right?"_

Two pairs of sisterly eyes met, both sets wide with alarm.

 _"He cracked the code!"_ The duo screamed voicelessly.

* * *

"Look, I can understand what you guys are saying," Lincoln interjected. "Or...enough of it anyway. So can we _please_ just use our voices for this conversation?"

The sisters exchanged suspicious glances. "When did you—" Lori began.

"A long time ago." Lincoln interjected. "Sometimes when we had sibling meetings, you guys would all stop talking and just stare at each other for a while. Didn't take long to figure out you guys were communicating, _somehow_ , so I started working on figuring it out. It was less boring than just watching you guys."

"You did _that_?" Lynn exclaimed. "By yourself?" Lori silently nodded her agreement. It actually was pretty impressive. Granted, Lincoln wasn't exactly fluent, and he'd needed to use his hands to contort his face into some of the more complex expressions, but it was an impressive feat regardless.

"Well, Leni shows me a few phrases to get me started—"

"Figures." Lori deadpanned, only to realize there was an echo to her words. A glance upward revealed a very unhappy Lynn.

"Leni was always the weak link." The former athlete grumbled. " _Especially_ when it came to Lincoln."

"You're not..." Lori began to protest but found herself unable to continue in good faith.

"...wrong," She finally admitted, with a small sigh. "Leni was always soft on Lincoln."

Lori's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Lincoln, you and Leni wouldn't happen to be..."

"What?" Lincoln asked, confused. "Talking?"

"That's...one way of putting it."

"Not really." He shrugged. "She sends me a gift basket twice a year, once on Christmas and once on my birthday. They usually come with a letter too, but nothing too long. You know Leni."

"Yes." Lynn growled. "We _definitely_ know Leni."

"I've tried to call her at her office, but she's always busy." Lincoln continued. "Always...busy. Just like the rest of you guys. Right?"

It was an out, an easy way to explain away their absence. But it was also a plea. Something that made sense in a vaguely logical sort of way. Lincoln wanted there to be a reason why _most_ of his family had abruptly cut off contact with him, and as far as excuses go, it was a pretty good one. Even so...

"That's **right,** " Lynn announced clapping Lori on the back. "We're all **so** busy. Leni's got her company to run, and Lori spends so much of her time out in space. Getting all...dusty...apparently..."

"Space is _dirty_!" Lori hissed, rounding on the younger girl. "And _you_ —"

"You gonna put Lincoln down before you lay into me?" Lynn asked with a smirk.

"I didn't want to be the one to bring it up." Lincoln interjected, his face reddening several shades. "But from here I can kind of see your—"

"I will!" Lori protested, deciding that deliberately ignoring Lincoln was the least embarrassing option. Even so, she pulled him closer, holding him tightly against her body, _strictly_ so that he wouldn't be able to observe her conversation with Lynn, of course.

" _What are you doing_?" She silently asked Lynn, again.

"I'm just explaining to Lincoln why I had to literally drag you away from your very important, **world-saving duties** ," Lynn replied aloud. "That you're selfless dedication to your **very important hero work** is why you couldn't pop down to visit your favorite brother. So dedicated, that I had to **punch you in the face** many times to make you reconsider your very **dedicated dedication**."

"Lynn..." Lori seethed.

"And look!" Lynn ignored her, gesturing grandly. "You've **_not_ **been a superhero for minutes at a time, and the world is still here!"

Before Lori could respond, Lynn leaned down and put her face right up against Lori's.

"And Lincoln's apparently had _two_ of us looking after him, and nothing bad has happened." She said, softly.

Her lips flattening into a thin line, Lori glanced meaningfully at the rubble which had once been Lincoln's apartment wall.

"That was _you_." Said Lynn, with a cocky smirk. Lori winced. _Touche_...

"And what about tomorrow?" Lori asked, surprised at how weak her voice suddenly sounded. "Or the next day? How do you know he'll still be okay _then_?"

"Because he'll have _me_." Came Lynn's reply. "And you. If you want him to."

Lori swallowed deeply. "I...I don't..."

"And, speaking of Linc being okay? I know from personal experience that if you keep holding him like that, he's going to pass out."

What did she...

Lori looked down and blanched. In her attempt to temporarily remove Lincoln from the conversation, she'd planted the boy's face squarely in her cleavage. And, save for the occasional twitch of his limbs, he wasn't moving...

"Lincoln!" Lori shrieked, hoisting her brother up into the air. That's what you were _supposed_ to do, right? There's more oxygen up there, _right_!? Maybe she should take him for a quick flight, just to be on the safe side...

"So...pretty..." Lincoln uttered, his voice strained. Lori gulped loudly as heat blossomed across her cheeks. Oh... _wow_. Lincoln...

"Pretty lights." Lincoln continued. "So many of them..."

And there went her good cheer. Stupid Lincoln. Take away his precious oxygen for a _few_ minutes and he goes all loopy. Can't appreciate a good thing when it's _literally_ staring him straight in the—

Lori yelped as _something_ wrapped around her and _pulled_. The next thing she knew, she was being pressed against her siblings, the still delirious Lincoln now sandwiched between her and a very bewildered looking Lynn. Mercifully, the young man's remained exposed to life giving oxygen. Though, given how tightly they were being held together, his lung capacity might still be at issue...

It was at this point that Lori noticed the enormous face looming behind Lynn. Lincoln's friend...Stella? Only considerably larger than she'd been a few moments prior, barely able to squeeze into Lincoln's apartment.

"SORRY!" Said the younger girl, her voice booming in the fairly confined space. "I COULDN'T REALLY FOLLOW WHAT'S GOING ON, BUT IT SOUNDED LIKE THIS WAS THE PART WHERE EVERYONE WAS SUPPOSED TO HUG. JUST THOUGHT I'D HELP THINGS ALONG. DID...DID I READ THE ROOM RIGHT?"

Lynn, finally noticing the way Lincoln was being pressed into her by the giant girl's Brobdingnagian embrace, smiled brightly.

"You did good, Stel!" Lynn called out happily, causing the larger girl to beam with pride.

Lynn met Lori's gaze, her joyful smile gaining just a _hint_ of a smirk to it. "She _did_ do good, right Lori? Wouldn't you agree?"

"I..." Lori hesitated, her willpower dangling by a hair. Then she looked down at her brother. Barely conscious though he was, at this particular moment Lincoln's face was free from fear, or worry, a stark contrast to the Lincoln she'd known for this short period of time. And it occurred to Lori that she would very much like to see more of _this_ Lincoln. Safe, protected, and above all else, _happy_.

"It's...a start," Lori admitted, nuzzling up against her brother. "Lynn, move your stupid arms."

"Bite me."


End file.
